Why This Matters

Traditional approaches of combating obesity have often consisted of health care professionals encouraging individuals to eat less and exercise. This has led to a multi-billion industry revolving around dieting and intense exercise routines that are difficult for people to incorporate into their daily lives. Meanwhile, despite these efforts, the rates of obesity have continued to increase.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada released a position statement calling for different levels of governments, policy makers, and Canadians to get involved in creating healthier environments. For instance, strategies to change the built environment to promote walking impact our health have been advocated for. The article describes that the risk of obesity "can decline by 4.8% for each additional kilometre walked per day".

New York City has taken some of the research on the built environment and the importance of involving non-traditional stakeholders to heart, and has developed strategies to promote a healthier city through. The New York Fit City project couples the health department with non profits, community groups, and academic institutions. Over the short span the project has been running, they have documented significant improvements in dietary patterns and physical activity. The initiatives range from opening community gardens to changing building designs and having stair prompts beside elevators. Such imaginative strategies are inspiring and serve as good models for seeing the research being translated into action to improve health for people.