Press Release | 16. November 2005
Body Size and the Urban Built Environment in New York City: New NIH-Funded Research
A new study examining the link between body size and the urban built environment in New York City received $1.6 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health. The Built Environment and Health project, led by Andrew Rundle, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, is a joint effort of researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health and the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) as well as the University of Michigan, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and Smith College.
The project examines the New Urbanist perspective in city planning, which suggests that people walk more and weigh less when they live in more "pedestrian-friendly" places – in other words, places that are more densely settled, mix residential and commercial activity, and have better sidewalks and public transit. The mix of local food stores and restaurants might also influence weight by shaping opportunities to eat a healthy diet. Over the past decade, with growing concern about the "obesity epidemic," health researchers began to ask whether the built environment can help explain physical activity and obesity, and design better interventions to promote healthy behavior.
Rundle's project will examine whether these factors can explain variation in exercise, diet, and body size across New York City neighborhoods. The research team is assembling micro-scale information on land use, transportation networks, access to parks and other green space, and access to grocery stores, restaurants, and other retail establishments, using a geographic information system (GIS) to link this information to health datasets for New York City and the surrounding suburbs. Pilot research for the study was sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars Program. The Columbia site of this interdisciplinary program is a joint initiative of the Mailman School of Public Health and ISERP.
Rundle emphasized the importance of conducting this kind of micro-level study: "Urban policymakers need research generalizable to their locale if they are to make informed decisions about the costs and benefits of zoning, economic development, public transit, and other matters that may shape physical activity." With rising rates of obesity, these decisions are increasingly important.
See Also
- Built Environment and Health project
- Urban Design, Physical Activity, and Obesity Working Group, Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars Program
