:: cyclists inciting change
thru live exchange
Bicycle-friendly state keeps obesity in check
Published August 25, 2005 by Miami Herald
PORTLAND, Ore. - To shed the pounds that crept around her waistline, Linda Ginenthal began to ride her bicycle to work -- an easy 3 1⁄2-mile trip.
It's not a marathon, nor is it a grueling hike. Yet diet experts say it's the kind of daily activity that could hold the secret to why Oregon is the only state in the nation where the obesity rate did not increase in the past year.
According to a study released Tuesday by the Washington, D.C.-based Trust for America's Health, the percentage of overweight Oregonians held steady at 21 percent last year, a sharp contrast to Alabama, where the rate of obesity increased 1.5 percentage points to 27.7 percent.
What makes Oregon different is its emphasis on urban design, which encourages outdoor activities like biking to work, the study's authors said.
Ten percent of Portland residents pedal to the office on a system of bike paths that crisscross the city like arteries, just as they do in Boulder, Colo. -- another bike-friendly metropolis, situated in the leanest state in the nation. Only 16.4 percent of Coloradans are obese, according to the study.
`THE LITTLE THINGS'
'"The solution to obesity is not that everyone should run a marathon,'' said Michael Earls, co-author of the study. ``It's the little things that begin to make a dent in the problem, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or riding your bike to work.''
If a city or town is built in such a way that it forces residents to drive long distances, instead of walking or cycling, then physical activity becomes something that has to be planned rather than an activity that can be woven into the fabric of everyday life, he said.
HEALTHY LIVING
Obesity expert Tom Farley, the author of Prescription for a Healthy Nation, said research in the field has moved away from the notion of personal responsibility to the idea of creating environments that foster healthy living.
''Physical activity has been engineered out of our world,'' he said. ``It should be natural and normal to be physically active, instead of having to go to the gym.''
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