July 2006 Issue

New Report on Public Health and the Built Environment

Here’s a new report everyone should be interested in. As it says in its press release, it “comprehensively summarizes the relationship between how our communities are designed – land use, design character, transportation system, and density – and a series of public health outcomes such as physical activity, traffic crashes, respiratory health and mental health.”

First we get the statistics. “The percentage of Americans who are overweight has risen from 47 percent in 1980 to 64 percent in 2000. The incidence of diabetes has also increased over time. In 2005, 20.8 million people, or 7 percent of the population, suffered from diabetes, with particular impacts on some certain demographic groups, such as people over 60 years old, blacks, and Hispanic/Latino Americans. More and more children are now considered overweight and the proportion of Americans who meet the minimum physical activity requirements guidelines has also decreased over time. Lack of physical activity and being overweight is are positively correlated with a plethora of health problems, including higher risks of cancer, heart disease, stroke high blood pressure, and arthritis.”

Next comes detailed analysis for five important public health concerns - respiratory and cardiovascular health, fatal and non-fatal injuries, physical activity, social capital and mental health. The report also considers the impact of each of these five areas on special populations, including children, the elderly, and minorities. For example, the physical fitness chapter addresses the growing health concerns of physical inactivity, and summarizes research on its relationship to rates of walking, bicycling and transit use in the built environment.

The report was prepared for the U.S. Green Building Council, the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council to assist with the preparation of a rating system for neighborhoods called LEED-ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development).

The authors note that “to our knowledge, this is the first report that not only summarizes the impact of the built environment on public health topics but also discusses how this information can be translated into positive changes to the built environment. “

It’s the first I’ve seen. I look forward to us applying this new information through our Vision North Texas partnership. Stay tuned.

John Promise, P.E.
Director

See the full report “Understanding the Relationship Between Public Health and the Built Environment” at www.cnu.org.

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