Suburban Sprawl Makes You Fat?

I think it's a result of how our lifestyles have changed over the years. The higher house prices rise, the further people have to go to find affordable housing and the more driving they need to do. I know that has been true for myself. I used to drive 2 hours a day (1 hour each way) to work and it seriously affected my health. I have also noticed that people that live further out from city centers do not walk as much or get as much exercise, in general. If the nearest store is several miles away, as opposed to a few blocks away, you drive instead of walk. The problem is that people haven't adjusted their diets to accommodate these changes. Add processed and sugary foods to the mix and it is a recipe for disaster.

From an Atlanta person here.. sprawl certainly does not make getting around without a car easy!

And I was born here.

And since so many people drive, if you do try to condense your life into a small enough area to commute by bike or foot, the cars will act as if you shouldn't be there and try to run you off the road.

I think it's somewhat effect (more that, active people will tend to move towards somewhere that facillitates their lifestyle)-- but very much cause

To your point, here is a reference to a study that looked at the same question.

Urban sprawl not cause of human sprawl: study Individuals more at risk for obesity tend to live in sprawling neighbourhoods

“Someone who does not like to walk is more likely to be obese and is more likely to live where one can easily get around by car,” says U of T economics professor Matthew Turner, one of the study’s authors. “Thus, the finding that people in sprawling neighbourhoods are heavier does not imply that sprawl causes obesity.”
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/061102-2688.asp

When I first moved to the DC area I was living out in Fairfax (suburban HELL) and didn't have a car. It was definitely hard to get around. Crappy suburbs do not go out of their way to make it easier for people to do something as simple as walk to the store. For one thing, there are often no sidewalks, and for another, the store is usually a few miles away, and you'd have to walk back with heavy bags of groceries, etc.
I hate the suburbs for a lot of reasons but this is a big one.

I think there's probably a combination of factors... from the direct effect of the environment to the mindset that it encourages.

Personally, I live in a region with heavy sprawl, southern california, but in a neighborhood that is a pocket of walkability. My husband and I can get to markets (even the weekly farmer's market), resteraunts and shopping without getting in the car and we do so quite often. But I see many of my neighbors getting in their car and driving out the alley to get to the same mini-market that I can walk to in just as much time. It's crazy.

When I visited my brother in Boston we walked almost everywhere. I remember thinking if I could move to a big city like that I'd probably lose 10 pounds with all the exercise built into my day.

I second jj's comments...after moving from a suburban neighborhood with no sidewalks whatsoever to an urban neighborhood with sidewalks everywhere, I was delighted that I could walk to stores and libraries and add natural exercise into my day. But I've also noticed that I am usually one of few people who walk on a regular basis and most others drive. Depends on your mindset and schedule, whether or not you're willing devote time to walking.

European cities in general seem to be more 'walker-friendly' (and cyclist-friendly) than American cities, more sidewalks, more traffic-free areas, and they have lots of little shops and markets dotted all over the place instead of huge malls with 6-level parking lots. Is that why the people 'in general' are smaller than Americans?

Caramelle-oh said:
Is that why the people 'in general' are smaller than Americans?[...]

It seems to be one of the contributing factors. On average, European cities seem smaller than the American ones, but I think it’s the lifestyle that encourages more activity.

When I was younger and still lived with my parents, we were in a very suburban area and drove everywhere. We had to because everything was miles away and there were no sidewalks. I walked a lot around the neighborhood for exercise but cars drove by constantly and some would practically run me off the road. Whereas when I've stayed in bigger cities everything is a short walk away. My brother lives in DC and he walks to work because it's less than a mile away from his apartment.
If it's easy to walk to, there's no point in wasting the gas.

I agree that the correlation is a complex relationship. My opinion is that sprawl makes it more difficult for people to stay active. I recently moved from a sprawling suburb to an inner neighborhood 2 miles from my work. It has become much easier for me to stay consistently active and fit. In my opinion, staying fit requires motivation plus a supportive environment (ie. no sprawl). Nobody can make me walk to work, but if I want now I can because I live in a city neighborhood.

What makes people inactive and overweight does have a great deal to do with the immediate environemnt that allows for people to become dissillusioned and lethargic with their surrounds. If you do not have access to roads where you can cycle that aren't full of traffic for example, then of course, you are not going to want to cycle at all.

We are beginning to reflect our environment and live in it as if it is controlling our relationship with nature itself. The further removed we become from the natural world, the further we become isolated and due to the fact that industrialization renders people dependent upon the work in the cities. Very few people have the luxury to live and work in rurality and yet, it is what we all yearn for the most. If we are dependent upon our survival in the presence of a sprawl, then we do become depressed and ultimatley dissillusioned with our wellbeing in it and because we are left powerless by the sheer dominance of sprawl itself.

We cannot challenge nor change it and therefore we become intimidated by it and threatened by it on a subconscious level at least. This then alters our perception of how we see ourselves and our primary role amidst buildings. It is very hard for some people to feel enchanted with something that can look so faceless and impenetrable as buildings and roads that go on for miles. Countryside has to be nearbye or yes, otherwise, people do become large and not just because there are no places to cycle.

This is why I would never want to live in a rural/suburban area. UNLESS they have a sprawling gym with alot of rich folk, everyone gets megasized! Cities arn't all that safe.
Indeed, there is nowhere to live!