Concerns About Links Between Obesity and Town Design

Concerns About Links Between Obesity and Town Design
Public health officials want more attention paid to links between obesity and the way towns and cities are built in this country.

The issue is raised by two officials in this month's edition of Doctor magazine, with Virginia Hope of the Auckland Regional Public Health Service suggesting more research was needed into an ecological approach to health.

Leadership was needed to develop the research, which could help in town planning, she said.

Health Sponsorship Council special projects manager Tane Cassidy pointed to issues such as the ease of walking or cycling to work or school.

Mr Cassidy spoke about the issue at the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity meeting in Auckland, having previously attended a conference in the United States dealing with the link between obesity and the built environment.

The message in the US had been that opportunities for physical activity tended to be much less than they could be, he said.

While this country was different from the US, many of the same trends showed up.

"We don't do as much activity as we used to. We drive our kids to school more often and don't let them bike or walk."

Partly that was because of people's concerns about safety, which could be due to the way places were designed.

Good design could increase the opportunities for incidental