Latest research shows cities have areas which ‘health-constrained’ , rather promoting good habits. Can better city planning change this?
We have all witnessed the scene – mile after mile of cars packed in traffic jams; folks no longer leaving their vehicles to do a food shop but preferring to ‘travel’ via the drive-through for less-than-healthy takeaways!
This not New York – this is in fact Australia and New Zealand…
The Conversation website reports on both interesting and ( arguably) disturbing latest trends from health research :
“As councils and central government consider what cities of the future will look like, a new tool has been developed to map how various features of where we live influence public health.
The Healthy Location Index (HLI) breaks down healthy and unhealthy elements in cities across New Zealand. It offers important lessons for how we plan and modify our cities to increase physical activity levels and tackle important issues such as obesity and mental health.
The obesogenic environment
New Zealand has one of the highest numbers of adults living with obesity in the world and the rates are not improving. Data from 2021 showed a substantial increase in both childhood and adult obesity from the previous year.
Obesity is a major public health concern that is estimated to be responsible for approximately 5% of all global deaths annually. The global economic impact of obesity is estimated at roughly US$2 trillion or 2.8% of global GDP. “
”The index provides a rank for every neighbourhood in New Zealand based on access to these positive and negative features.
Out of New Zealand’s three major urban regions, Wellington shows highly accessible health-promoting and health-constraining environments, Auckland offers relatively balanced environments, and Christchurch shows a high proportion of people living in more health-constraining environments.
The bigger picture created by the HLI supports previous evidence highlighting a disproportionate number of features that constrain health, such as fast-food outlets and liqour stores in socioeconomically deprived areas.
Of particular concern in the most deprived areas, the distance to health-constraining features was half what it was in the the least deprived areas, highlighting the persistent over-provision of gambling outlets and liqour stores in some parts of the country.
This phenomenon is well known as a form of “environmental injustice” which ultimately stems from a lack of equity in the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.
The index also highlights how areas of New Zealand with quick and easy access to health-constraining features are worse off in terms of both mental and physical health outcomes such as depression and type II diabetes.”
( Drive-through image source The Australian)
