An article in the June 20th issue of U.S. News & World Report speculates that suburbia might be bad for our health. A few excerpts (no link available):
Since 1960, the number of people commuting to work out of the county they live in jumped by 200 percent. Residential "sprawl" has meant a 250 percent increase in vehicle miles traveled. The average driver spends 443 hours yearly behind the wheel, the equivalent of 11 work weeks.
"For every additional hour people spend in the car, there's a 6 percent increase in the likelihood of being obese." [We assume this means "every additional hour per week"]
Increased auto traffic is also a key source of ground-level ozone. Asthma rates among children, who are believed to be particularly sensitive to ozone, more than doubled between 1980 and 1995.
Living in suburbs is linked to eating more higher-calorie food. At least 1 in 4 adults now eats fast food on any given day. For children, 1 of every 3 meals is fast food.
Childhood obesity has more than doubled in three decades. But the number of kids who walk or bike to school has dropped from nearly half in 1960 to about 1 in 10 today, largely because schools are far from home.
