ellen vanderslice. fit, fat, radical pedestrian.

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Sprawl makes us fat. Americans are driving more and more, and walking less and less. We are getting fat, and we are dying. Okay, I'm fat. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Body Mass Index (BMI), I'm obese. My BMI is 32. I'm 5'-3" tall (so you can do the math backwards and figure out how much I weigh if you want). I think the BMI stinks. It's a gross measure for large populations, not a good measure for an individual. It doesn't discriminate between muscle and fat and it doesn't measure how fit you are. A better measure for the individual is adiposity. Don't you love these technical terms? Adiposity is a bodily state in which the proportion of the body weight composed of fat is excessive, as opposed to obesity, in which body weight is above "normal." You can be fat and fit. In fact, you can be fit and fat and phat! I am with the fat acceptance movement in believing it is time we stopped treating fat people like criminals. People don't have very much control over how fat they get, according to a great article in Scientific American, August 1996 (used to have a link to this but Scientific American has taken everything before 1999 off their site). But however much this fat grrl may cringe at the health professionals' focus on rotundity, there is no doubt that inactivity is linked to ill-health, and we face an epidemic of inactivity in this country. Physical inactivity and unhealthy eating are risk factors that contribute to at least 300,000 preventable deaths each year in the U.S. Kids don't walk and ride bikes as much as they used to -- in fact between 1977 and 1995 walking and biking declined 40% for 5- to 15-year-olds (Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey 1997). Today's children are at greatest risk of any generation ever of contracting preventable chronic diseases within their lifetime. Active children do better in school and are more likely to be active adults than their non-active peers. The simplest and most accessible form of physical activity is walking. Chronic disease prevention specialists and physical activity promoters have woken up to the notion that the physical environment has become a serious barrier to more walking, and they are inserting themselves into transportation decision-making processes. Across the U.S. health professionals are teaming with transportation practitioners and advocates to promote what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call, "Active Community Environments," places where people of all ages and abilities can easily enjoy walking and bicycling.   Pedestrian Actions   Radical Pedestrian   Selling Walking   Why Walk? Why Not?

Sprawling disconnected Generica and the fast food joints it harbors are part of the fat equation.   To see a series of slides from the CDC that tracks the fattening of America, click HERE.   The coolest fat grrl in the world: Cheryl Haworth Photo courtesy MensJournal.com