Living in suburban sprawl may hurt health, study says

By Rob Stein
The Washington Post

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The study, which analyzed data on more than 8,600 Americans in 38 metropolitan areas, found that rates of arthritis, asthma, headaches and other complaints increased with the degree of sprawl. Living in the least sprawling areas, compared with living in the most, was like adding about four years to people's lives, the study found.

"Suburban sprawl affects your health," said Roland Sturm, a senior economist at the Rand Corp. of Santa Monica, Calif., who led the study, which is being released today.

As suburbia has spread across the U.S., health experts have become increasingly concerned that the fast-food, car-dependent lifestyle might be contributing to a variety of health problems. Previous studies have linked sprawl to an increased risk of being overweight or obese and certain related health problems, such as high blood pressure.

The new study, published in the journal Public Health, is the first to directly examine the relationship between sprawl and a spectrum of chronic illnesses.

The increase in health problems is presumably due to the fact that sprawl discourages physical activity, increasing the chances of being overweight or obese. In addition, sprawling communities tend to have more air pollution, Sturm said.

Sturm and colleague Deborah Cohen analyzed data collected by Healthcare for Communities, a survey that in 1998 and 2001 questioned a nationally representative sample of 8,686 adults in 38 areas about a spectrum of health issues.

The researchers then examined whether there was an association between 16 health problems and the amount of sprawl where participants lived, using a standard scale that includes such measures as population density, street patterns and proximity of businesses and workplaces to residences.

The least compact community was the Riverside-San Bernardino area in California, while the most was Manhattan.

People living in areas that scored highest on the sprawl scale reported the most problems, with the unhealthful effects appearing to disproportionately affect the poor and the elderly. The association was particularly significant with arthritis, respiratory problems such as asthma, stomach problems, headaches and urinary-tract infections. But the researchers also found evidence of an association with heart disease and high blood pressure.

Those living in very spread-out places, such as Atlanta, had about 100 more health problems per 1,000 people than those living in areas that were less so, such as the Greensboro-Winston Salem area of North Carolina.

Although some researchers have speculated the social isolation that can occur in sprawling communities may also lead to more mental-health problems, the new study failed to find that link.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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