Obesity has long been blaimed on the sprawling lifestyle of the suburbs. But are people made fat by where they live or live where they can be fat? LAtimes reviews recent scientific articles on the subject...
This focus of the second study is a little blurry. And the LA Times does not cover the topic as comprehensively as it should. This is probably because LA is one of the most spread out cities in the United States.
The first study investigates obesity in relationship to a lifestyle that is rampant in sprawling cities and suburbs across the United States. The second study tries to disqualify the first study by focusing on the possibility that fat people choose the suburbs. Or the possibility that there has not been enough information collected to make an conclusion on this concept connecting lifestyle and physical health. To get to the point, would this second study argue that there is no link between obesity and lack of excercise? I doubt it. So, can you connect exercise to lifestyle? Obviously, yes. The distance people are willing to walk is very easily defined by 1/4-1/2 a mile (depending on the person). If you live 4-5 miles away from your nearest corner store or grocery store, you are going to drive. Additionally, in many suburbs, there are no sidewalks. Which I have to explain why lack of sidewalks would lead to obesity, you deserve the triple bipass surgery that awaits you. There are many other concepts that support the link of obesity to suburbs. One concept is big box stores. Big box stores promote large purchases (which you need to drive in order to transport) and stocking up. So, many suburban homes have large stocks of food. So there is more food available within the larger homes. Lets walk through this again, a large home, with a lot of food, far away from anything that you would need/want leading to a person that eats all day and doesn't leave their house should not be shocking. Is it really controversial to link suburban or sprawling culture to obesity? It doesn't require science to prove this, it requires common sense to think through it.
Nov 7, 06 3:02 pm ·
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Science vs. common sense.
This focus of the second study is a little blurry. And the LA Times does not cover the topic as comprehensively as it should. This is probably because LA is one of the most spread out cities in the United States.
The first study investigates obesity in relationship to a lifestyle that is rampant in sprawling cities and suburbs across the United States. The second study tries to disqualify the first study by focusing on the possibility that fat people choose the suburbs. Or the possibility that there has not been enough information collected to make an conclusion on this concept connecting lifestyle and physical health. To get to the point, would this second study argue that there is no link between obesity and lack of excercise? I doubt it. So, can you connect exercise to lifestyle? Obviously, yes. The distance people are willing to walk is very easily defined by 1/4-1/2 a mile (depending on the person). If you live 4-5 miles away from your nearest corner store or grocery store, you are going to drive. Additionally, in many suburbs, there are no sidewalks. Which I have to explain why lack of sidewalks would lead to obesity, you deserve the triple bipass surgery that awaits you. There are many other concepts that support the link of obesity to suburbs. One concept is big box stores. Big box stores promote large purchases (which you need to drive in order to transport) and stocking up. So, many suburban homes have large stocks of food. So there is more food available within the larger homes. Lets walk through this again, a large home, with a lot of food, far away from anything that you would need/want leading to a person that eats all day and doesn't leave their house should not be shocking. Is it really controversial to link suburban or sprawling culture to obesity? It doesn't require science to prove this, it requires common sense to think through it.
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