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ALRC NEWSROOM: In The NewsOBESITY COSTS US $168B PER YEAR A recent report released by the National Bureau of Economic Research puts the medical costs of obesity at $168 billion annually, or (currently) 17 percent of all health care spending. Obese adults paid an extra $2,800 per year for medical treatment. That additional cost represents a significant economic burden on an individual, considering the annual per capita income is approximately $33,000, and that overweight/obesity disproportionately afflicts low-income individuals. The annual healthcare expenditures in the United States are often estimated at more than $1 trillion; individuals (on average) pay for or consume almost $10k worth of health care annually. By way of contrast, Federal spending on bicycle and pedestrian projects amounts to no more than $2 billion annually. Remember these figures the next time you are told that proposed sidewalk is too expensive, there's no money to build the trail, or the bike/ped master plan will have to wait for the next budget to be funded. Walking and bicycling are two of the best ways for Americans to get their recommended level of physical activity. For more about how your community can make its streets safe and attractive for walking and bicycling see our newest publication: Increasing Physical Activity Through Community Design: A Guide for Public Health Practitioners and Livable Community Advocates. Download your copy today. For more about the obesity study: TRAINING OPPORTUNITY: FEET TO THE STREETS-ALTERNATIVES TO MOTORIZED TRANSPORTATION Join the ALRC's Sharon Roerty and other national experts for a free webinar on how communities can be designed to support active transportation. The webinar is offered by the RWJF Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity. Register now for the October 21 presentation. Here is a description: "This webinar will discuss strategies for creating opportunities that encourage non-motorized transportation including: developing systems of trails and bike paths, implementing incentives for reducing dependence on motorized transportation, and promoting innovative land use strategies that support a variety of modes of active transportation." Sharon will be offering a guided tour of the ALRC's newest publication: Increasing Physical Activity Through Community Design. She will also be discussing lessons learned through 8 years of the ALRC's fieldwork promoting walkable communities, Safe Routes to School, Complete Streets, and bringing livable communities to scale (regional transportation planning). If you are unable to attend the presentation, it and previous presentations on active living can be found on the Center's website: http://www.reversechildhoodobesity.org/webinars NEW ALRC FACT SHEET TOPIC: BICYCLE STAIR RAMPS & CHANNELS -> NCBW recently added a new Fact Sheet to its Active Living Resource Center (ALRC) library. This one deals with a topic missing from most facility design manuals, particularly those published in the United States. In communities where bicyclists have been allowed to take their bicycles on transit, there is often a daunting barrier: stairs. But in a growing number of communities, transit agencies have solved the problem by installing small ramps at the sides of the stairs. With these, bicyclists can take the stairs and roll their bikes up and down at their sides. According to NCBW's John Williams, "While ramps and channels don't solve all problems, they do one thing pretty well." In addition, they can be useful in other settings than transit systems. Saskatoon (SK) uses one to get trail users up to a high river bridge and San Jose (CA) uses one to get bicyclists from a parking lot up to a levee path. Los Angeles installed one to allow bicyclists to use a pedestrian underpass. Nearly 40 colleagues from around the U.S, Canada, Denmark, the U.K., and Australia contributed ideas, resources, and comments to the project. For more info and to download the Fact Sheet, go to: http://www.activelivingresources.org/index.php |
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