Is Your Town Making You Fat?

Wait. Now, in addition to fake food, the Internet, and our close friends, there’s another reason Americans are unhealthy: they all live in Fat City, so to speak. The Scientific American reports on the influence of town planning on our general fitnesss, or lack of fitness. Sciam reports that members of the average American household collectively logged more than
32,000 miles of car travel in 2001, and according to National Household
Travel Survey data, only 15 percent of children in the U.S. walk or
bike to school—a 35 percent drop from three decades ago. At the same
time, kids now spend an average of 44 hours a week sitting in front of
a television, computer screen or other video monitor, Over the past five years, the
study concludes, this “Generation M” (for media) has increased its
total exposure by more than an hour each day, mostly by multitasking
with different forms at once.
What to do? Sciam looks at metropolitan areas that have made bike paths a priority, and talks to town planners about designing neighborhoods in ways that encourage walking, running and biking. Read it and tell Geezer how your town stacks up.