Sprawling Suburbs May Help Fuel Obesity explains some important differences between American and European (sub)urban planning:
Sprawling suburbs that make it harder for people to get around without a car may help fuel obesity: Americans who live in the most sprawling counties tend to weigh 6 more pounds than their counterparts in the most compact areas.Adding to the sprawl concern: Pedestrians and bicyclists are much more likely to be killed by passing cars here than in parts of Europe where cities are engineered to encourage physical activity — and whose residents typically are skinnier and live longer than the average American.
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“How you build things influences health in a much more pervasive way than I think most health professionals realize,” said Dr. Richard Jackson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who helped edit the research, published in the American Journal of Public Health and American Journal of Health Promotion.“Look at many new suburbs — there are not any sidewalks at all. … The result is we just don’t walk,” added John Pucher of Rutgers University, who uncovered the U.S.-European disparities that CDC’s Jackson called shocking.
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In Europe, people make 33 percent of their trips by foot or bicycle, compared with just 9.4 percent of Americans’ trips.