Physical Activity in the US Essay -- Social Issues, Transportation

The level of the universe of discourses level of physical body process is becoming a major public health concern in the United States (Wahlgren, 2011). As a result of urban sprawl, Americans rely heavily on personal vehicles to move to bailiwick or other destinations. This is leading to a sedentary sustenance style for the public as they take to their cars to travel to their destination. The publics perception of the environments in which they live in are likely influencing their behaviors resulting in their dependance on personal vehicles. (Wahlgren, 2011). The physical environment and peoples levels of physical activity are directly connected. Low density zoning and auto-dependent victimization is resulting in the promotion of sedentary life styles. Most activities, like commuting to work or shopping, requires the use of a personal vehicle because of the areas isolation in residential zones and commercial zones (Ewing, 2010). Alternative modes like paseo or bicycling are ra ther impractical, as the areas often stir little to no sidewalks or other pedestrian friendly conveniences (Marshall, 2009). The Low density design is developed because residential homes have less units per acre and commercial buildings tend to only be a couple of stories and isolated further apart. The sizes of lots tend to be bigger to accommodate queen-size parking lots that are often oversized and unsafe for pedestrians. An hunting expedition to combat the continual development of urban sprawl, smart growth development looks to solve this dilemma. The idea of smart growth concentrates its development around thickset walkable centers within urban areas. The purpose of this is to avoid the growing sprawl finished the implementation of walkable, bicycle-friendly and alternative transportation like b... ...uate personal motivation, however it is an unloose that involves social and physical obstacles that must be overcome as good (Steinman, 2010). Environments that enhance walkability are typically associated with greater pedestrian traffic and subvert body mass index (BMI). Neighborhood safety and traffic volumes and highroad speeds have been identified in the ACRES and other studies as determinants to a walk able neighborhood (Steinman, 2010, Wahlgren, 2011). Urban planners can address these consequent in several different ways. Placing sidewalks and lighting to clearly guide pedestrians and creating profile with canopy trees can create safe inviting spaces. Addressing volume and speed on roadways can be addressed by introducing sidewalk bulbs, roundabout and buffers betwixt sidewalks and streets through the use of landscaping (Wahlgren, 2011, Dumbaugh, 2011, Frumkin, 2002).