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Victoria Coglianese

Obesity

March 13, 2103

Obesity and the Built Environment (2005, Booth et al.)

Non-environmental factors- psychological, behavioral, biological and social factors- have

previously received the bulk of the attention in attempting to define and stop obesity, but emphasis on

these in interventions have not led to sustainable progress, according to the authors. Therefore, this

article focuses on factors part of environmental factors that are correlated with obesity, namely area of

residence, resources, television, walkability, land use, sprawl, and level of deprivation. The built

environment includes urban design factors, land use, and available public transportation for a region,

as well as the available activity options for people within that space.

Residents of neighborhoods of low socio-economic status (SES) tend to walk more as a

necessity, and yet low-SES neighborhoods are associated more with overweight. However, personally

believe that visual appeal of a neighborhood significantly affects recreational physical activity of its

residents. I like to run recreationally, and one of the biggest pleasures of running for me is the sights I

see in my neighborhood, which is of medium-high SES. Experiencing appealing landscape and seeing

natural landscape in general, as opposed to mostly concrete in low SES neighborhoods, are huge

motivators in my continual choices to run. I think the difference in landscape between higher SES urban

neighborhoods and lower SES urban neighborhoods is a striking comparison. For example, the stoop

houses of the West Village of Greenwich Village and the rows of houses in New Brunswick are both

make up urban communities with and therefore have limited lawn property and ability to showcaselandscaping. However, the streets of the Village are beautifully lined with trees whereas residential New

Brunswick streets lack this appealing landscape, both in structured design and in trees in general. Going

for a run under a grove of trees in the Village would be aesthetically pleasing. Also adding to the

aesthetical appeal, the stoops of Village houses are often well kept with the small space utilized

efficiently to create pleasing pockets of nature. I am uncertain as to whether these characteristics are

due to higher SES or have raised the SES (or a combination of both), but I do believe that steps should be

made to break the barrier to residents in New Brunswick to be willing to create this same appeal with

their own property. An appealing environment can do wonders to encourage its residents to be active in

it.

Studies have shown that neighborhoods with higher walkability and land-use mix (mixture of

houses, commercial, and recreation destinations) have higher levels of physical activity and loweroverweight statuses. If assuming the neighborhood is safe, a fully functional community with many

destinations available within distances accessible by physically active transportation promotes more

active lifestyle and healthier feeding when these destinations encourage selection of less energy-dense

food high in nutrients. It is when connectedness and healthy options are coupled that make community

less prone to obesity.

Progress at a neighborhood level should include public planning and community design to

promote the characteristics of a healthy community. Interestingly, it is stated in the article that at the

level of the individual, health care practioners should assess their clients community living situations

like local barriers to physical activity and healthy food choices. This is a new addition to the traditional

assessment of factors affecting healthy lifestyle, and I think it would greatly help fight the obesity

epidemic by attacking another one of its many facets. With this assessment there should follow

intervention. Therefore, practitioners should be educated in what methods their clients can adopt to

overcome obesigenic burdens presented in their community.

Where Are Youth Active? Roles of Proximity, Active Transport, and Built Environment (2008, Grow et

al.)

Purpose: This study examined factors related to two sources of physical activity for youth: active

use of recreation sites and active transport to recreation sites.

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Victoria Coglianese

Obesity

March 13, 2103

Proximity of a recreation site was positively related to more active use of that site by youth as

well as the amount of which youth walked/biked to that site. An unprecedented finding of this study

was that those who mostly chose to walk/bike to recreation sites showed increased use of most

recreation sites, even without the parameters of proximity. Street connectivity, pedestrian

infrastructure, and traffic safety are other built environment factors that positively related to the

amount of walking/biking of youth to recreation sites.

Compared to children, adolescents showed less use of active transport to recreation sites as well

as less use of recreation sites for active purposes. This result mirrors the previously found patterns of

decreasing physical activity from childhood to adolescence. Drivers license of adolescents showed a

negative correlation with active transport, while perceived traffic safety positively correlated with their

active transport. In light of this, I think that early adolescents should be encouraged to continue and

increase active recreation as well as active transport, even after they earn their drivers license. There

should also be initiatives, especially taught by parents, on how to ride and walk safely along roads and

while crossing streets. Parents should mentor their children in real-time practice.

Previous research has shown lower rates of physical activity and higher rates of obesity among

adolescents who have less access to recreation sites. Also, since youth are shown to actively use

recreation sites more when they arrive by active transport, barriers to their use of active transport, like

improper infrastructure, may block youth from participating in two opportunities for physical activity.Therefore, it is crucial for public policies and planning to improve pedestrian infrastructure and traffic

safety.

The amount of physical activity performed at specific types of sites and what they offer has not

been researched. Interestingly, however, this study has shown that smaller parks as well as sites offering

less structured activities are associated with more active transport to these sites among adolescents.

Perhaps less structured activities promote more activity in general and can be repeated by adolescents

more often in other scenarios than structured activities that may require certain facilities, like a

swimming pool. Therefore, public planning should emphasize more active accessibility to smaller parks

and recreational grounds.