Built Environment

Our communities can be healthier places to live, work and play, where walking and biking are easier, and where being physically active is a natural part of your day.

Sixty-one percent of adult men and forty-nine percent of adult women in Massachusetts do not meet the minimum recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American College of Sports Medicine of at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a day, on five or more days a week (MABRFSS 2005). Community design has led to increased reliance on cars, even for short trips, and little opportunity to walk or bike. Changes in educational priorities and concerns about the safety of our children have reduced opportunities for physical activity before, during, and after school.

National surveys on attitudes toward walking and biking find that the American public wants to walk and bike more places more often, and they are willing to invest in making that possible.(Belden, Russonello and Stewart, 2003, www.transact.org/library/reports_html/pedpoll/pedpoll.asp )

Health experts agree that prevention is the key to controlling chronic disease. We can make physical activity the easier choice within our communities by designing or redesigning our environment. Over time, this approach has the potential of reversing the consequences of physical inactivity that contribute to chronic disease.

“It is unreasonable to expect that people will change their behavior easily when so many forces in the social, cultural, and physical environment conspire against such change.” Institute of Medicine