April 19, 2006
Designing Healthy Communities with Kids in Mind
by Eat Right Montana
As a nation, we recently celebrated National Public Health Week (April 3-9), during which a great deal of attention was given to the link between community design (or the “built environment”) and the well being of children.
“Healthy communities for children are on the verge of being engineered out of existence,” according to George C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “We must take action to change these harmful built environments to ensure the well being of our nation’s kids.”
So what exactly is considered a healthy community? According to Cathy Costakis, physical activity coordinator for the Nutrition and Physical Activity Program at Montana State University, there are several factors that help to define the health of a community, including the ability to safely get around by walking or biking, access to healthy food, air quality, access to health care and minimal exposure to toxins.
“Over the past 50 to 60 years, we have forgotten how to design communities supportive of walking and biking for all ages and abilities,” Costakis said. “As a result, we are seeing dire health consequences. Only half of children ages 12 to 19 get regular physical activity. The percentage of overweight kids has doubled since 1970. Kids are now showing risk factors for diseases that were previously only showing up in adults, such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.”
Dan Burden, a nationally recognized authority designing healthy communities, has come up with a means for determining the health of a community. He calls it “The Popsicle Test.” He claims that within a healthy, walkable community a child can walk to the store, buy a popsicle, and then carry that popsicle home to a brother or sister before it melts. The key factors in play are safe walkways and a centralized retail and service industry.
Communities that pass this Popsicle test tend to be older, traditional neighborhoods that have grid-like streets, slow traffic speeds, tree-lined sidewalks, and the corner store at the end of the block. People living in these communities tend to walk for reasons other than just recreation and, as a result, experience more activity in their day.
Newer communities are often designed around the automobile as the primary transportation mode. Housing, schools, and commercial centers are separated by significant distances, and traffic flow is a greater design priority than pedestrian flow.
The federal government has acknowledged the importance of supporting the “walkability” of communities by funding the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program in the last transportation bill. The program will provide funding to all states to improve infrastructure, fix hazards along school routes, and educate communities on the benefits of walking or biking to school. Community design elements addressed by the program may include improvements such as installation of sidewalks and slowing traffic via stop signs or speed bumps.
The timing for the funding of the SRTS program coincides well with another effort geared to setting up healthier school environments for children. By the beginning of the next school year, all K-12 schools that participate in the federal School Nutrition Program must have a School Wellness Policy in place. Availability of healthy foods and opportunity for plenty of physical activity are both important requirements of this mandated wellness policy.
When starting to assess the health of your community, particularly where walking to school is concerned, Costakis recommends doing a walking audit.
“A walking audit will help to identify specific issues or problems within the routes to your school,” she said.
A great resource designed to help in conducting a walking audit is “The Walkability Checklist” which may be found online at http://www.walkinginfo.org/pdf/walkingchecklist.pdf
“We have been advocating the importance of walking for good health, but we have been designing our communities so that this is difficult to do,” Costakis said. “We need to make it easy and safe for people to walk in their communities as part of their normal daily routines.”
Walking in Your Community
Consider life before the automobile. How did we get around? Walking was the primary mode of daily transportation.
In fact, walking carries the prestigious title of “The Oldest and Most Basic Form of Transportation.” Walking can connect us to our local communities while providing us with health-giving physical activity.
The benefits of walking are many:
- It is affordable. No gym fees, no expensive equipment – just you and your feet!
- It keeps you physically fit, enhancing cardiovascular health while keeping bones strong and managing weight.
- It keeps you mentally fit. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that research subjects who received aerobic training through walking had improved attention and memory.
- It provides an opportunity for socializing. Making a plan to meet a friend for a walk gets you out of the house and physically active, and it provides ample opportunity for catching up with friends.
Is Your Community a Safe, Walkable Community?
Not all communities offer an environment that is safe for walkers. The Partnership for a Walkable America (PWA) is working hard to make changes in this area.
PWA is a national coalition working to improve the conditions for walking in communities throughout America. Through its work, it hopes to increase the number of Americans who walk regularly.
See how walkable your community is. Fill out the walkability checklist available at the PWA website: http://www.walkinginfo.org/pdf/walkingchecklist.pdf
Walking or Biking to School
Why is it a good idea?
- It is beneficial for kids’ health. Kids need physical activity to stay healthy. Walking to school can be a fun way of fitting in the necessary 60 minutes of recommended daily physical activity.
- It improves air quality and the environment. Imagine the decreased automobile exhaust we would have if more people walked and fewer drove to school!
- It encourages the community create safe walking and bicycle routes for all. By urging more kids to walk to school, the community must address issues related to pedestrian safety, such as sidewalk availability and traffic-calming measures such as speed bumps.
Pedometer Walking: A Great Way to Track Your Daily Activity
A pedometer is a little device worn on the waistband or belt that tracks steps taken. Tracking steps provides a realistic picture of how much daily activity you are getting and can give you a great starting point from which you can set personal goals for improvement.
Recent studies suggest that walking 10,000 steps a day is the appropriate level of activity for weight management and associated health benefits. Most people only get 900-2,000 steps a day through normal living and working activity.
To learn about pedometer walking programs, visit one of the following websites for details and motivational guidance:
(Eat Right Montana is a coalition promoting healthy eating and active lifestyles. Sponsors are the American Heart Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, Montana Beef Council, Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Montana Dietetic Association, MSU Extension Service, Montana Office of Public Instruction, Montana Team Nutrition Program, North Dakota WIC Program, and Western Dairy Council. For more information, visit www.montanadieteticassociation.org.)
