The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on a mission to help create a transportation system that makes us fitter, not fatter.
The agency, which promotes and protects public health and safety, is pushing active transportation systems in a big way, and it's fitting in light of the undeniable fact that the United States is getting ever fatter. The number of states with an obesity rate of 30 percent or more tripled, to nine, between 2007 and 2009.
Active transportation systems promote pedestrian mobility, bicycle usage, connectivity to mass transit and so-called complete streets that make room for all modes of transport. The CDC outlines the ambitious goals in its Transportation Recommendations. The focus is on developing more efficient transportation systems while improving Americans' quality of life and health.
The CDC is not alone in pushing this agenda.
First Lady Michelle Obama's Let’s Move Campaign aims to make children more active throughout their lives. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has made it clear that the needs of pedestrians and cyclists will be considered alongside those of motorists. Last year the federal agencies overseeing the environment, transportation and housing and urban development announced the Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, to increase and improve transportation options, among other things. And urbanists and city planners are increasingly embracing transit-oriented development, which stresses compact pedestrian- and transit-friendly communities.
The push could not come at a better time. Obesity has become a serious public health problem during the past 20 years. Nine states have obesity rates higher than 30 percent, while just two places -- Colorado and Washington, D.C. -- have rates below 20 percent. The latest stats from the CDC show the number of people identifying themselves as obese grew 1.1 percent — an additional 2.4 million people — between 2007 and 2009. The CDC pegged the medical costs associated with obesity in that period at more than $147 billion.
It's worth noting that as we get fatter, we burn more gasoline -- and emit more greenhouse gas. A 2006 study by Entrepreneur.com found every one pound increase in average passenger weight boosts annual fuel consumption by more than 39 million gallons.
When cities seek infrastructure funding, they could get a boost from the CDC as it examines how communities' health programs are related to their transportation system. The CDC sees this as a chance to raise awareness of, and help shape, the connection between health and transportation.So, will the CDC’s transportation recommendations make a big difference? Perhaps, given the trend toward complete streets and transit-oriented development and the growing number of cities making themselves increasingly bicycle friendly.
No one is trying to eliminate the automobile, and the car surely will remain our dominant means of transportation. But we must embrace and promote other modes of transportation if we are to improve our health, our communities and our environment.
Photo: mugley / Flickr
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