The more you drive, the fatter you get, says new study

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 31 May 2004 - 11:00 PDT

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According to new research, the more you drive the fatter you get. Sometimes we need an official study to state the obvious. Researchers found that the longer people spend behind the wheel the fatter they are likely to get.

10,500 people were surveyed in Atlanta, USA. According to the findings, your chances of becoming obese increase by 3% for every extra half hour you spend commuting to work.

If you live less than one mile from the shops you are less likely to be obese, a whopping 7% less likely - compared to people who do not live within walking distance from the shops.

Lawrence Frank, Research Leader, University of British Columbia said "The more driving you do means you're going to weigh more -- the more walking means you're going to weigh less."

The majority of people surveyed said they spent more than an hour each day behind the wheel. Over 90% of them did not walk to places, even if they were nearby. The big question is - how many of those people drive because they cannot manage the walk (they are too heavy and unfit).

The study was looking at a link between obesity and environmental factors. The findings could (hopefully) have an impact on future town planning designs.

You can read about this study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (June issue).

The study monitored people for two years, from 2000-2002. The people were weighed and their heights were measured.

After the Second World War most urban areas in the USA have been designed with the car in mind, rather than people's health. White American men who live in the suburbs generally weigh about 10% more than men who live in city centers or dense urban areas (back to the proximity to shops and services again).

Europeans are often surprised at how pedestrian-unfriendly many urban areas of the USA are. I am English and live in England. I have often come across areas in the USA where you cannot walk at all - you have to take a car. On two occasions, while walking to a shop in a suburban area in the USA I have been asked by police in a patrol car whether I needed any help. On telling them I just wanted to walk they looked rather surprised and slightly sceptical.

I went to San Diego Zoo a few years ago and saw that most of the sloped paths have conveyor belts - the ground actually takes you up the hill. My children laughed when they first saw it. My youngest son (10) thought they were 'awsome'. My eldest son (17) looked around and said 'I think they have to have these belts, there are lots of people here who could not manage the slopes without help.' The people he was referring too were not senior citizens; they were in the twenties and thirties and forties.

England is fast catching up with the USA regarding obesity. The number of obese children in England has increased by 400% in the last 20 years. Health officials in the UK are saying that many parents today may be outliving their children if they carry on being as fat and unfit as they are. English town centre shops, corner shops, local traders are all closing down as huge supermarket complexes open up in the outskirts of town. The choices open to many people are: Either walk a marathon each day to get your shopping or take the car. Everyone takes the car.

I love going to the Netherlands. There are cycle lanes everywhere. Not just a lane within a road for cars, but proper lanes in a separate narrow road with its own curbstones - just for bicycles (that cars cannot get to). Everyone cycles there; it is safe and you can get around easily. In the Netherlands, it is common for children to cycle to school and back. Physical activity there is weaved into daily life as a result of good urban planning.