The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #68090

Russell P. Lopez, MCRP, DSC, Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Talbot Building 2E, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, 617 414-1439, rptlopez@bu.edu

Almost one third of US adults are obese. Obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, and it is a leading contributor to premature mortality. At the same time, urban sprawl is increasing with large numbers of people living in peripheral low-density communities. .

We developed an index to measure levels of sprawl in US metropolitan areas using US Census data. It is based on the difference between the percentages of a metropolitan area’s population living in high-density tracts and low-density tracts and is scaled between 0 (lowest levels of sprawl) and 100 (highest levels of sprawl). Representative sprawl values include: Atlanta, 80.5, Boston 46.57, Newark, 37.41, and New York City, 6.72. Using this index and a metropolitan-dwelling subset of the 2000 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national telephone based survey of adults, a multi-level analysis of sprawl and calculated obesity status controlling for individuals’ age, income, gender, education and race/ethnicity was performed.

The results showed sprawl was associated with an increased risk of being obese. After controlling for the other risk factors, each one point rise in the sprawl index results in a .5% increase in the risk of being obese. Because tens of millions of Americans live in high sprawled metropolitan areas and levels of sprawl are increasing, the risk of obesity could be enormous. Urban sprawl may eventually prove to have large adverse impacts on public health.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how sprawl can be measured.
• Understand the potential relationship between sprawl and obesity.
• Increase understanding that land use decisions may impact health.
• Acquire new skills for the study of urban environmental problems.
• Encourage additional research on the health impacts of urban sprawl.

Keywords: Obesity, Urban Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.