What Do Streets Have To Do With Health?

The issue we can’t seem to solve

Obesity and obesity-related chronic conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes, 我们的会员总是说他们想要更多的信息和帮助吗.  As we know, 肥胖是一个多因素的问题，我们似乎无法找到解决方案.  我们已经想出了一些方法来预防和治疗肥胖和慢性疾病的症状, 其中许多都被证明是不成功或昂贵的.

有治疗肥胖和高血压、糖尿病等慢性疾病的药物, as well as weight loss programs, and specific diet regimens.  虽然治疗肥胖的药物效果一般，但它们的价格往往很高.  In terms of prevention, 减肥计划和特定的饮食方案通常只能在短期内取得成功, but very rarely produce long-term results.  一项似乎对预防肥胖和糖尿病有效的计划是 Diabetes Prevention Program, 但它主要适用于血糖已经异常的人, it is time-intensive, and it can be pricey.

如果有一种方法可以解决这些问题，而不必让你的员工参加一个计划呢, pay for a medication, or spend lots of money on a wellness program?  我们相信，只要改善它们运作的环境，这是可能的.  While we believe changing the work environment 重要的是，如果我们把眼光放得更高，去改变环境呢 city in which our employees live.

‘Street Diets’

When I say street diets, I’m actually not referring to Wichita’s amazing food trucks or pop-up park where you can get said food.  You may have heard about a recent proposal 通过威奇托市重新设计市中心道格拉斯大道，将其从5车道(每条2车道+一条转弯车道)改为3车道(每条1车道+一条转弯车道)，并在两侧扩大自行车和滑板车的空间.  伦敦金融城将首先进行一项“更好的街区”实验，暂时减少车道数量，看看效果如何，以及居民会如何接受.

We believe, based on well-conducted research, 这种类型的街道设计直接影响了正规澳门赌场app的两个主要目标, 1)改善员工的健康，2)最终降低医疗成本.  As we know, 一个人的健康状况可能有80%以上是在医生办公室之外决定的, and much of it is determined by their environment.  Additionally, and paradoxically, data shows 一个国家在医疗保健上的支出越多，他们的健康状况就越差.  The United States 比经合组织中支出第二高的国家多出1万亿美元, yet 我们在彭博最健康国家指数中排名第35位，而且还在下降.  We’re even ranked worse than Cuba, which in addition to being a repressive dictatorship, spends less than a tenth of what we do on healthcare.  How is that?

一个很大的原因是，一个国家在医疗保健方面的支出越多, 这可能意味着他们在社会和公共卫生基础设施上的支出更少——这是另外80%的一部分——这有助于减少对医疗保健的需求.  Public health infrastructure, in this case, includes creating a more dense, walkable and bikeable city via city and street design.  There is good data 这表明在这些类型的城市中，肥胖和糖尿病的患病率较低.

道路节食并不是什么新鲜事物，事实上，它已经存在了几十年.  However, new research is beginning to show how valuable they are, and not just for health, but for the protection of pedestrians, boosting economic development, and attracting and retaining young talent, just to name a few.  In fact, 最近，新澳门葡京赌场app的几家成员已经将业务迁往或扩大到市中心，目的是在一个适合步行和骑自行车的地方，这是员工的愿望.

As the Kansas Business Group on Health, 我们有机会表达我们对这种街道设计的支持.  如果你有兴趣，想了解更多，或有评论，请 contact us.