U researchers report that residents living in neighborhoods built before 1950 are more likely to have a lower rate of obesity.
The study, which began in 2006, found that neighborhoods built before 1950 were designed with the pedestrian in mind while newly designed neighborhoods are designed to facilitate car travel.
The study showed that a man with an average height and weight living in a more walkable neighborhood weighed about 10 pounds less than if he lived in a less walkable neighborhood. A woman of average size weighed about 6 pounds less.
“The older the neighborhood, the lower the body mass index,” said Barbara Brown, professor of family and consumer studies and co-author of the study. “Old neighborhoods invite walking as opposed to the new subdivisions that we’ve designed for the car.”
“If you look at the data on obesity rates over the past 20 or 30 years you see a steady climb in the fraction of people who are adults and who are overweight or obese,” said Ken Smith, professor of family and consumer studies and co-author of the study.
Smith said that streets like 700 East are difficult to walk down. Walkable neighborhoods have more shade, less traffic and fewer exhaust fumes, he said.
Researchers used geographic coordinates of homes in the Avenues, Sugarhouse and other neighborhoods, and the height and weight of each resident to conduct their study. Smith said the study was anonymous.
The key to building healthier neighborhoods is reducing reliance on the automobile. Projects such as The Gateway complex downtown, which combines residences, shopping and workplaces all in one, are a great way to do that, Smith said.
“It’s when you’re building new towns that you should really think about these new urbanist ideas and try and make sure you have the schools and shops right there so people can just live their lives with everything relatively close by,” he said. “It’s all about making more efficient use of the space that you have.”
Brown said that there are ways to make non-pedestrian friendly neighborhoods more conducive to healthy lifestyles.
“I think there are a lot of ways that localities could change zoning codes, create incentives to mix uses, make more pleasant density of housing and make work places closer to where you live, those kinds of things,” she said. “We’re going to be rebuilding most of America over the next few decades. We may as well get it right.”
Joe Stilinovich, a senior in electronic journalism, said he believes there may be other factors that account for findings in this study.
“People may get more exercise because they are working on their older houses and they may be older and cook at home more often,” he said. “I’m sure there’s a lot more fast food restaurants in the newer subdivisions too.”