Sprawl contributes to obesity

It's kind of a no-brainer:

U.S. children who live in expansive suburbs may start to pay for it with expansive waistlines, new research suggests.

Using data from a national health survey, researchers found that teenagers living in sprawling suburbs were more than twice as likely to be overweight as teens in more compact urban areas.

The findings echo those of a 2003 study by the same researchers that focused on U.S. adults. The researchers believe the same factors may be driving the link between suburban living and teenagers' weight -- the major one being reliance on cars. more...

In urban or truly rural areas, exercise often is part of people's everyday lives. They exercise walking to the store, up and down stairs, or, in the case of rural residents, down to the back 40 to check on the cows. Next time you're heading out, think about whether or not you can walk or take a bike. If you do, you might work off enough to have an extra serving of fried Coke.