Is City Living More Healthy Now? Perhaps the City is the Place for Diabetics

02/22/07 Type II Diabetes, Nutrition & Exercise, Living Well, Clinical Trials, General

It used to be that living "out of town" meant that you lived on a farm and had the hard working, outdoor lifestyle that led to improved health. Living "in town" was for store owners, or bankers, and was not nearly as physical.

Now, living in a city environment may be your healthiest choice for your waistline. "A mixture of commercial and residential land uses puts commercial facilities that you need for everyday living within walking distance," one author said. "You're not going to get off the couch to walk to the corner store if there's no corner store to walk to." Living in the suburbs often means that there are no commercial establishments that you can reasonably reach without a car, leading to a more sedentary lifestyle.

When I was in college, we justified driving to the corner grocery story because we would be buying groceries, and couldn't carry them all back. However in snow storms, as everything around us shut down and our cars became useless, we all managed to walk to the grocery store to get necessary "supplies" to weather out the storm! I still justify using the car to travel even short distances, mostly because of the time involved. I do encourage my kids to walk to the park, or to their friends houses or Scouts rather than relying on me to drive them. I hope it will help them maintain their healthy weights, in addition to preserving our environment!

I know that healthy living experts suggest that even if we drive to our nearest WalMart, we should park as far from the entrance as possible, and get a bit more exercise walking to the doors. I know in our local WalMart, just the shopping trip is probably a two mile walk! But I think I'll try it now that spring is just around the corner. Bathing suit season is not far away, and my winter body is ready to get moving again!