Many people move to the suburbs for
the fresh air and better quality of life. How ironic
that a new report shows that residents in sprawling urban
county suburbs are fatter and have higher blood pressure
than those in dense urban areas.
The study, Relationship Between Urban
Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Morbidity (from
the advocacy group Smart Growth America), measured the degree
of sprawl in 448 urban-area counties. Those with the greatest
sprawl earned the lowest numerical ranking on a sprawl index.
Researchers then evaluated and compared health characteristics,
including weight and hypertension (high blood pressure), of
more than 200,000 people living in all study counties.
The results: For each 50-point increase
(the measure of increased density) on the sprawl index,
county residents weighed one pound less. It doesn't sound
like much, but wait. Residents in the county with the greatest
sprawl -- Geauga County outside of Cleveland -- were likely to
weigh six-plus pounds more than people living in the densest
urban one, New York County (Manhattan). Incidence of high blood
pressure among New Yorkers was still slightly less frequent
than among residents in the most sprawling counties, in spite
of the city's fast pace.
Nico P. Pronk, PhD, research investigator
for the Minnesota-based health system HealthPartners' Center
for Health Promotion, has been closely involved in this research.
I called him to discuss his suggestions for automobile-bound
Americans to get more exercise.
Dr. Pronk says that a key discovery in
the report is that people who exercise regularly but live
in sprawling counties still are heavier than their counterparts
in dense counties. The difference is that New Yorkers, for example,
walk a great deal in their daily life, simply to get from place
to place, and suburbanites drive everywhere. He and other researchers
realized that a good solution would be to get people to increase the
number of steps they take routinely. And voilá -- the birth of
HealthPartners' well-known 10,000 Steps Program.
10,000 Steps
Participants in the 10,000 Steps Program are
encouraged to take 10,000 steps each day -- that's about five miles.
Don't dismay. Even nonwalkers take about 4,000 steps (approximately
two miles) each day just going about the office, their home and to
and from their car. You just need to increase your activity somewhat
to meet the goal. There are many ways to do this, and you've heard
them before -- park farther out in the lot... take the stairs...
walk the long way up the hall at the office, etc.
Dr. Pronk recommends that you track your
steps each day with a pedometer (approximate cost: $20).
HealthPartners has a Web site at which people can sign up
for an eight-month-long program that includes a pedometer
and daily E-mail tips and encouragement (cost: $20 for
HealthPartner members, $30 for others). Go to http://www.
10k-steps.com for more information -- and get moving.
Sources...
Nico P. Pronk, PhD, vice president,
research investigator, HealthPartners' Center for Health
Promotion, Minneapolis.
