Determining The Health Risks Of A Car Dependent Culture

Americans are raised to be accustomed to a society that relies on driving a vehicle to get from point A to point B. But researchers said on Friday that as Americans drive more, they walk less, and that increases their risk of developing serious health problems.

James Hill, professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado told Reuters that people should take 10,000 steps each day in order to stay fit. But people who drive their cars to wherever they need to be typically take only about 1,000 steps per day.

"If it (Atlanta) was a city where I walked more I would automatically get a lot of the exercise I need. Now I have to … schedule it into my life. Sometimes it’s very difficult because I’m busy," Seema Shrikhande, a professor of communications at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, told Reuters.

Doctors have linked this sedentary lifestyle with a higher risk of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Dr. Dianna Densmore of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the typical American lifestyle of using a car to get around can make it hard to get the 75 minutes of intense weekly exercise or the 150 minutes of moderate exercise the government recommends.

Every 30 minutes spent in a car translates into a 3 percent greater risk of being obese, said Lawrence Frank of the University of British Columbia.

"People who live in neighborhoods with a mix of shops and businesses within easy walking distance are 7 percent less likely to be obese,” he said.

Older cities that are more densely populated tend to rely more on public transport than larger, spread out cities like Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix.

There are other perks to seeking ways around car dependence, including rising gas prices and environmental concerns.

However, “the question of how to readjust the balance away from car dependence and toward sidewalks, cycle lanes and denser communities is intensely political,” according to Reuters.

"We have designed cities to suppress walking," said David Goldberg of Smart Growth America, a coalition of nonprofit groups that works to improve town and city planning. "It’s much easier to widen highways in an … exurb than to get money to retrofit an over-wide highway for non-driver."

Many federal and local governments are beginning to attempt to address the issue of over dependence on cars for transportation. Dan Reuter of the Atlanta Regional Commission says governments in Atlanta are trying to come up with new ways to promote urban living, as well as considering options for building rail systems to suburbs.