Living Near Shops and Transit Makes New Yorkers Less Fat

A new Columbia University study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, yet again, links livable streets to improved public health. The study reports:

"There are relatively strong associations between built environment and Body Mass Index, even in population-dense New York City," said Andrew Rundle, Dr.P.H., lead study author and assistant professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University Medical Center.

The study appears in the March/April issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Researchers looked at data from 13,102 adults from New York City’s five boroughs.  The authors discovered that three characteristics of the city environment – living in areas with mixed residential and commercial uses, living near bus and subway stops and living in population-dense areas – were inversely associated with BMI levels.

For example, city dwellers living in areas evenly balanced between residences and commercial use had significantly lower BMIs compared to New Yorkers who lived in mostly residential or commercial areas.

"A mixture of commercial and residential land uses puts commercial facilities that you need for everyday living within walking distance," Rundle said. "You’re not going to get off the couch to walk to the corner store if there’s no corner store to walk to."

Photo: MannyRios/Flickr

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Livable Streets Are Good for Health in the Heartland, Too

|
The roadscape in Nebraska, built for one thing only. Photo by jWiltshire via Flickr. The health benefits of livable streets don’t always get enough attention. Today on the Streetsblog Network, we’ve got a story from Missouri Bicycle News about a new study from the St. Louis University School of Public Health documenting how the health […]

A Livable Streets Renaissance in Savannah?

|
The last time we checked in with the folks down at Sustainable Savannah, it was to get an update on the jaywalking ticket blitz that the city was conducting — not exactly evidence of a progressive attitude toward traffic safety. Today, we’ve got better news. Biking in Savannah: the future is looking brighter. Photo by […]

This Week in Livable Streets Events

|
Election Day kicks off a week of talks and workshops, wrapped up with an East Side bike ride and a walking tour in Brooklyn. Tuesday: Remember to vote! Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Find your polling site here. Wednesday: Columbia University hosts a lecture by General Motors’ former Vice President of […]

Primeggia’s One-Way Safety Claims Are Based on 1970s Studies

|
 DOT Deputy Commissioner Michael Primeggia on March 15: "I know that two-way streets are less safe." A couple of weeks ago, following the epic, 650-person "One Way? No Way!" public meeting in Park Slope, Brooklyn Papers columnist Gersh Kuntzman accused his fellow Park Slopers of being "closed-minded, anti-intellectual whiners" for rejecting DOT Deputy Commissioner Michael […]