How Cities Can Help Fight Obesity
On Sundays in Ferguson, Missouri, the community encourages kids to play in the streets by closing them off to cars and turning them into temporary "parkways." Streets are closed in different neighborhoods each week as part of the city’s “Live Well” initiative for health. This is a great idea: studies show that children with regular access to parks and outdoor space have lower prevalence of obesity by 20 percent.在密苏里州弗格森市，每个周日，社区都鼓励孩子们到街上玩，街道将不允许汽车入内，变成一个临时公园。作为这个城市“健康生活"的首创精神，每周不同街区的街道会被关闭。这是一个好极的主意：研究表明，定期去公园或户外的孩子比其他孩子患肥胖症的几率低20%。
Ferguson’s initiative shows that there are simple things we can do at the level of our own neighborhood to improve quality of life and fitness. When we think of improving our health, we sometimes think that the entire burden is on individuals to alter lifestyles, which many people find discouraging. But, as we’ve reported before, steps taken by communities can make a big difference in making healthy lifestyles easier.
弗格森市的精神表明，我们有很多简单的事情可以做，去提升生活质量和健康水平，就在家附近的地方。当我们想锻炼身体的时候，我们有时会觉得改变个人的生活方式是很大的负担，这使一些人灰心丧气。但是，就像我们之前说的，由社区来采取措施能更容易的改变人们的生活方式。
We now have additional support for this point from a new report by the Bipartisan Policy Center and a recent article from US News &World Report, both published earlier this month. We also have a recently-revamped website that is filled with useful information on community health and active living.
现在这个观点有额外的支持了，来自美国两党研究中心的新报告和《美国新闻和世界报道》最近的一篇文章。我们同样有一个最近修改过的网站，那里有很多关于社区健康和积极生活的有用信息。
First, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s new report, “Lots to Lose: How America’s Health and Obesity Crisis Threatens our Economic Future, ” repeats the warning that growing obesity rates are a serious problem that extends to not only the well-being of our children but also to our economic security, because of health care costs. The core of the report provides specific prevention- and community-based recommendations based on best practices and organized into four categories: families, schools, workplaces, and communities. While the categories are interrelated, many readers of this blog will be particularly interested in the recommendations for communities:
首先，两党研究中心的新报告《减肥还有很长的路要走：美国的健康和肥胖危机是怎样危险我们的经济前景的》，重复警告我们，肥胖率的增长是很严重的问题，不仅孩子们的健康会受到影响，我们的经济安全，也会因为医保费用而受到威胁。报告的核心给我们提供了具体的预防措施，还有基于最佳实践的社区推荐措施，这些措施被组织成四类：家庭，学校，工作场所，社区。这四个类别毫不相关，许多读者会对有关社区的措施更有兴趣：
Train health care professionals in nutrition and physical activity
1、培训卫生保健的营养专家和运动专家。
Expand a “prevention-workforce” by providing training also to non-clinical, community health workers
2、另外通过培训非医疗人员和社区卫生工作者，组织一队”预防劳动力“
Provide incentives for community health services such as diabetes or weight loss education
3、向例如糖尿病或减肥教育的公共医疗卫生服务提供奖励
Improve menu options at large institutions, shifting food supply chains towards healthier options and better prices
4、改进大机构的菜单，更换更健康和更实惠的食物
Make creative use of technology, such as games, pedometers, or apps locating walking and recreation spots
5、用科技来帮忙，例如游戏、计步器、或定位步行地点和休闲地点的应用
Incorporate physical activity and healthy transportation guidelines into construction codes and planning policies
6、合并运动、健康交通政策和施工规范，出台有关政策
Ferguson’s street closings for kids are a great example of how recommendation six can be implemented. Because the city used existing infrastructure, it was able to create new recreational space immediately at no additional cost.
弗格森的做法是第6项措施极好的例子。由于这座城市用已有的基础设施，它有能力立刻在无需额外开销的情况下建造新的消遣场所。
The report and recommendations were released by former Secretaries of Agriculture Dan Glickman and Ann M. Veneman and former Secretaries of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala and Mike Leavitt. The leaders called attention to the country’s mounting health care spending, which is expected to reach $4.6 trillion dollars annually and consume almost 20 percent of GDP by 2020. The report urges the public and private sectors to collaborate in creating healthy families, schools, workplaces and communities, emphasizing practices that can be implemented on a large scale and help reduce obesity in the US.
美国前农业部长和前卫生与公众福利部长发布了报告和推荐信。他们要人们关注美国节节攀升的、预计在2020年前达到每年4.6万亿美元并消耗近20%GDP的医保费用。报告呼吁公共和私人部门合作营造健康的家庭、学校、工作场所和社区，强调可以大范围落实来减少肥胖的实践。
While the BPC’s report does not especially focus on the effects of community design, Rachel Pomerance’s article in US News does. In particular, she features our friend Dr. Richard Jackson, author of two recent books and host of a current PBS series on the connections between design and health. Jackson particularly stresses the importance of walkable places to improving fitness and reducing risk of obesity-related disease such as diabetes.
两党研究中心的报告并没有着重于社区设计的效果，但Rachel Pomerance在《美国新闻》的报告做到了。她特别介绍Richard Jackson医生，他最近写了2本书，主持了公共广播公司的一个系列剧，都是有关设计与健康之间的联系的。Jackson特别地强调适于步行的地方的重要性，不仅有助于健康，还能降低患如糖尿病等与肥胖有关的疾病的几率。
Pomerance’s article includes five tips for people interested in nurturing health in their communities:
Pomerance的文章包含五个人们感兴趣的营养贴士：
Start with youth, improving school lunches and periodically measuring kids’ health
1、从娃娃抓起，改进学校午餐并定期检查孩子们的健康
Rethink transportation options, considering walking when feasible
2、重新考虑出行方法，如果可以的话就走路
For people who are moving, consider a neighborhood where you can use transit, which encourages walking at the beginning and end of trips
3、对于要搬家的人，考虑搬去那些鼓励在旅行前后步行的社区
“Complete the neighborhood, ” by taking advantage of opportunities to add mixed-use amenities and local conveniences to existing places
4、“完善街区”，充分利用机会来添加多用途的便利设施
Press government agencies and homeowners’ associations for health-oriented improvements such as sidewalks and bike lanes.
5、给政府机构和业主协会施压，要他们作出以健康为目的的改进，例如人行道和自行车道
Pomerance highlighted a study we also reported here, showing that users of Charlotte’s light rail service lost weight and reduced their risk of obesity by 81 percent compared to before they began using the system.
Pomerance突出了一个研究，我们这里也报导一下。研究表明使用夏洛特（美国城市）轻轨服务的人体重减轻了，患肥胖症的风险也比使用前减少了81%。
Finally, Active Living Research, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has redesigned its information-laden website, which we highly recommend for those interested in community health and fitness. On the home page, for example, you will learn that kids who live near heavy traffic will have a five percent increase in Body Mass Index, on average, compared to those who don’t; that teens in poor neighborhoods are 50 percent less likely to have a nearby recreation facility; that kids who are physically active have higher grades in schools. (Some of these facts are also succinctly summarized on the very useful website of WalkBoston, which we noted earlier.)
最后，“积极生活研究”，Robert Wood Johnson基金的一个项目，重新设计了它的信息满满的网站，其中我们特别推荐给那些对社区健康有兴趣的人。例如，在主页上，你可以知道那些住在繁忙公路附近的孩子比起其他孩子在体质指数上平均会有5%的增长。还有住在贫穷社区的孩子比其他孩子少50%的机会拥有在家附近的消遣设施。积极运动的孩子考试更高分。（有些是在WalkBoston网站上总结的，这个我们之前说过）
Even better, if you are a practitioner in the field interested in exploring these issues in depth, the site has convenient links to resources on such subjects as the role of schools in promoting fitness, the state of observational research on physical activity in various specific contexts, and trends in walking and bicycling. There are research papers and briefs, webinars and videos, slide presentations, recommended policies, information on health impact assessments, and more, including the organization’s blog.
更好的是，如果你有志于这个行业，想更深入了解的话，这个网站有各种链接到各种资源。例如学校在提倡健康活动中的角色，各种特点环境中对于体力活动的观察调查情形，还有步行和骑自行车的潮流。网站上有论文和摘要，在线研讨会和视频，幻灯片展示，推荐政策，关于健康影响评价的信息，还有更多，包括这个组织的博客。
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