Sorry for the lull this week -- it was the first week of classes, yadda yadda yadda, [insert more excuses here].
Anyhoo, I found this article on CNN today, which seems to be saying that living in a walkable neighborhood makes you less likely to be 'obese' (or to 'weigh less' -- the two are sort of conflated here). The conclusion is very interesting and makes a lot of sense intuitively, though I had a little trouble following the argument as it was made in this particular summary of the original research. The CNN article says there is no statistical difference among (self-identified?) 'exercisers' or among 'non-excercisers' based on whether or not they live in walkable neighborhoods, so this seems to contradict the point of the article -- but I think it is just poorly written, because this more in-depth article from Science News Magazine online does make a statistical connection. Maybe what's going on is that there are more 'exercisers' in walkable areas. Actually that would make sense given the discussion towards the end of the Science News article, where it is pointed out that maybe people who are naturally sedentary prefer to live in non-walkable neighborhoods since they prefer to drive everywhere anyway. So maybe there is actually more of a 'sorting' going on than a causal relationship between walkable cities and lower rates of 'obesity' (however they measured that -- probably BMI). But the Science News article goes on to draw what I think is a pretty reasonable conclusion based on the studies they describe, and that is that even if there is some sorting going on, people who live in walkable neighborhoods will do more walking even if they're not big fans of walking generally. So there is still a health benefit to living in a walkable neighborhood, and regardless of whether this leads to weight loss or not, it's a good thing. One researcher, an economist, is quoted in the Science News article as saying that the people drawing a connection between non-walkable cities and fat are just smart-growth proponents trying to 'hijack the obesity epidemic' to advance their agenda. As far as I'm concerned, the 'obesity epidemic' hysteria is so ridiculous and overblown that I don't mind if all that energy gets shifted to a more reasonable and productive purpose like convincing people that our neighborhoods need to be more walkable.
In other news, we are going to get a cat! Photos to follow...
Also, Michigan lost again this week. Or, I should say, they were humiliated. By Oregon. 39-7. At home. Life is good.
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5 comments:
I'm pretty sure everyone goes on BMI lately. I'd really like to kick the person who came up with the BMI scale. I'd like to kick him right in the neck. With cleats.
However--Yay for kitty!!
(I'm a friend of Natalie's, by the by.)
Any friend of Natalie's is a friend of mine, Ms. Pants! And I am with you about the BMI guy (assuming it was a guy).
OK, I posted a picture of the kitty...
It was totally a guy. You know that. If it were a woman, it would have been much more involved, taking all sorts of other factors into consideration and then subtracting 25 lbs. for shoes.
Of course, if I'd made it, no matter what you put in, the results would read: "You're simply gorgeous darling!!"
Sadly, it's easy enough to live in a walkable neighborhood and drive. I've yet to walk the five blocks to my local grocery. :-(
I do believe that folks tend to self-select the type of neighborhood that appeals to them. Walkable neighborhoods (sadly) seem to cost more than generic subdivisions (this makes sense, as they are more attractive to folks like me), so who's going to pay extra when they aren't going to take advantage of the walkability?
K, I think you are right, but one of the studies did show that even people who called themselves "non-exercisers" and prefer not to walk still spent less time in their car and more time walking when they lived in walkable neighborhoods. So some people seem to accidentally get more exercise that way. Of course, that kind of person probably wouldn't pay extra to live in a walkable neighborhood.
Ms. Pants, I like your idea for an alternative BMI calculator. My own version wouldn't give any results at all, it would just say "None of your goddamn business" under "Height" and "Weight".
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