Public Health

Because of its proximity to Central Park, you might be forgiven for assuming East Harlem has plenty of open space. But a new report from New Yorkers for Parks argues that the neighborhood is isolated from many of its parks by busy roads and other barriers. Streets and sidewalks, the group says, can play a crucial role in encouraging physical activity as part of the neighborhood's fight against above-average asthma and obesity problems.

Living near transit can help you stay trim and healthy. That's the result of a study published last year in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. This study is a little old -- it was published in August 2011 -- but we just came across it in the Reconnecting America resource center and the results are too interesting not to share.

Who suffers most from bad road design? Not surprisingly, the answer is poor people, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Sidewalks, bike lanes, traffic calming projects -- they save lives. Not just by protecting cyclists and pedestrians (not to mention motorists), but by encouraging physical activity that leads to a healthy life.

One of the most talked-about presentations at this week's National Bike Summit came from Jason Gaikowski, director of sales for the Bloomington, Minnesota-based wholesale distributor Quality Bicycle Products. Over the last several years, QBP has ramped up its employee health and wellness program, which includes incentives to bike to work. At a time when most employers are grappling with rising insurance premiums, a study by the company's health insurance provider, HealthPartners [PDF], suggests the program has helped reduce QBP's health care costs and increase employee productivity.

"A leading voice for better urban design for the sake of good health." "A public health/social justice hero." Dr. Richard Jackson, chair of environmental health at UCLA, is a leading voice for transportation reform whose work has linked America's sprawl to the nation's high rates of obesity.

Check out these two maps, the first showing obesity rates (by county) in the United States and the second showing the percentage of commuters who travel by car (via Planetizen).

At a long and at points contentious public hearing last night, a clear majority of speakers came out in support of protected bike lanes on First and Second Avenues in East Harlem. In addition to local residents, the public health community came out in force to demolish the opposition's claim that installing bike lanes could worsen the neighborhood's asthma rates.

Transportation Alternatives and the New York Chapter of the American Association of Family Physicians today released a letter to Mayor Bloomberg, signed by 140 medical professionals from a broad spectrum of specialties, praising the city's bike and pedestrian infrastructure as essential to the health of New Yorkers. It's a solid counterweight to the hysteria surrounding the recent Hunter College bike-ped crash study: