A recent Forbes article said and I quote " Once considered an affliction of the lazy and indulgent, obesity now affects about one-third of Americans, most of them in these cities....I have no intention here to name the cities on the worst list. This problem is endemic across America and though some areas could be highlighted, the point here is that we must all be aware of these issues and pointing out one area over another serves no purpose.
When I first signed on to ActiveRain in late March 2007, someone had written an article about obesity. I wondered at the time, what does this have to do with real estate?
I have since come to understand that as a society what we eat and how much is a serious factor in not only our health but in the health of our nation as a whole.
The health of your city and the obesity factors seem to be connected somewhere around the hip bone.
What's the cause of all this excess weight? Experts probably don't always agree, but it seems to have something to do with the pace we are living our lives and that factors in to the rise in the fast food establishments.
Cities with lots of parks and green spaces for people to run and play, just seem to have a lesser percentage of obesity overall. With that, it appears that the desirability factor of a community could also be enhanced and be a real draw to buyers that seek communities that can provide the needed green space to grow with their children. Communiuties that will include schools that have the best interests of our kids with good educational programs including how they provide for a child's health with good nutritional programs.
Poor nutrition, another noticeable factor often found in so many of our schools often rely on vending machines filled with all the sugar filled foods and goodies that are substituted for balanced lower caloric meals. This practice is now gaining the attention of community leaders as well as state legislatures that want to ban these too convenient sources for poor nutrition.
Community lifestyle change will result in less obesity. Here are some recommended areas to observe and you can draw your own conclusion.
Look at the grocery stores, are they filled with shelf after shelf of sugar water beverages? The sugar and fat filled bakery goods, capping every aisle. Convenience stores filled with greasy fat and sugar filled fast food.
Look in the community with no sidewalks or walking paths - public planning strategies that favor motorists over walkers and cyclists. Here is also a place for public pressure to change those priorities and plan for a better quality of life. This may have a high cost, but the alternative can not longer be acceptable if we want to take any serious action against obesity.
If your city or community squawks that they can not afford to provide the way and sources for nutrient rich foods instead of fast food - reminding them that our annual bill for obesity related costs is over $93 billion a year might garner their attention.
So, as it is in our nation, it is in our many communities. Too much poverty and fast food consumption, and too little in the way of parks and recreation areas, farmers markets and even community garden centers that can grow their own healthy and nutritious foods.
The time to observe these things and put in motion the change, will require dedication to the task. In the longer run, it will save lives helping to prevent our overweight children from these dreaded results of heart disease, diabetes, cancers and poor vascular health. We must encourage our fast food restaurants to change their menus and provide better and more nutritious food service. We will at the same time will be improving our communities and that will make them more desirable to sustain the natural growth of keeping the community vital and being a healthy place to live.
Do it for yourself and your family. Do it for your community and in turn we will take a proactive stand for our entire nation.
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