Inland communities can do a lot toward improving overall health by incorporating design and planning that encourages less vehicle trips and more walking and exercise, two prominent health officials told attendees of the April 19 Randall Lewis seminar Series.

Dr. Eric Frykman, Director and Public Health Officer of the Riverside Community Health Agency; and Michael Osur, Deputy Director for the Riverside County Department of Public Health, discussed the health problems related to the built environment and how design and better planning can help encourage healthier lifestyles.

Diseases in modern America often center around lifestyle conditions, including diabetes and heart disease, and mental disorders including depression, anxiety and substance abuse, Frykman said.

“We rely increasingly on motor vehicles,” Frykman said, “and that has an issue related to it in that we don’t exercise at all much either,” he said. Increased reliance on the automobile has decreased physical activity, increased air pollution and robbed many of social time spent with friends and family, he said.

The large emphasis in the past decade on passive entertainment – big screen televisions, computers and video games – has also led to a decline in physical activity for adults and children, he said.

Public Health is getting involved in trying to reverse these trends by promoting and helping with the design of healthier, safer communities, Osur said.

Communities with increased densities – such as on the East Coast, do more walking because of the greater density and shorter distances between housing and businesses. Individuals living in communities with less density – such as the classic suburbs -- walk less of often must drive to stores and work – and tend to be more overweight, Frykman said.

Not only are Americans driving more, but kids are walking and riding bikes less, Frykman said. In 1974, 66 percent of children biked or walked to school, compared to 13 percent in 2000 – an 80 percent decline in 25 years.

Only 6 percent of total trips in the U.S are by bike or walking, compared to 54 percent in Italy and 49 percent in Sweden, he said.

“For every 30 minutes that you spend in your car, guess what? The chance that you are going to be obese over time goes up by 3 percent,” Frykman said. Conversely, each mile walked per day decreases the odds of being obese by 7.7 percent, he said.

The increased time spent driving also has its social costs, Frykman said, including less time spent with family and friends and in being involved in civic organizations.

Osur demonstrated through photos and diagrams some of the key components of healthy, livable communities, including pedestrian-friendly design, safe routes for walkers and bikers, and designs providing a sense of place and community, open space for parks and trails and accessible health care and services.

Riverside County Public Health is working with various governments to promote and help build healthier communities, Osur said. It works with planners, transportation agencies, developers, schools and community organizations to ensure that health and safety are considered when designing communities.

“One of the major things we do in Public Health is that we conduct walkable community workshops,” Osur said. We go out into communities with our walkability expert and teach people about sidewalks and sidewalk design; we actually do a walk in the neighborhood,” he said.

The groups then meet to discuss what changes can be made to make their sidewalks safer and more attractive to pedestrians.

The agency also has organized several Walk to School Day events in the county to encourage children to walk or bike to school, and presented several workshops on walkable communities, pedestrian design standards and street smart fire design, Osur said.

Download Eric Frykman's slide presentation here (606 kb).

Download Michael Osur's slide presentation here (17,560 kb).