This is my sixth in a series of blogs
discussing Communities in Motion 2040 and the relationship between
transportation and other elements addressed in the plan. You can find the
previous blogs below. Today I am discussing transportation and health.
Transportation
and health connect in many different ways, from providing transportation
options for low income individuals to access healthy foods to environmental
health and its impact on human health. However, in this blog, I’m just focusing
on one aspect of the transportation/health nexus: active transportation.
As we
were waiting for a staff meeting to start at the COMPASS office the other day,
the conversation turned to working out. One of our staff members mentioned that
as a child, she thought “exercise” was pronounced “extra-cise” – basically
something you did “extra” to be healthy.
While
this got a chuckle from our staff, it occurred to me that too often that is the
case – we view being active as something “extra” we do as a part of our day to
lose weight or be healthy. Unfortunately, many of us fail to do this “extra”
thing, which has lead to high levels of obesity, heart disease, stroke,
diabetes, and many other ailments.
Through
CIM 2040 we are striving to create a transportation system that encourages
active transportation – walking and biking to get from “Point A” to “Point B” –
by providing the appropriate infrastructure to do so, such as safe, high
quality sidewalks, bike lanes, and pathways. If we can design our communities
to be places where exercise is simply how you get to work or to the store,
instead of something “extra” to try fit into our busy days, we end up with
healthier communities and citizens.
This
concept reaches beyond a simple “feel good” message. The adult obesity rate in
Idaho in 2011 was 27% -- more than one quarter of our adult population! That
obesity epidemic comes with a cost, not only in lives and quality of life, but
in dollars and cents. In 2010, the obesity epidemic cost Idahoans $320 million
in health care, health insurance, lost productivity, and more. While that cost
is staggering, it is nothing compared to future projections -- the cost of obesity in Idaho is projected
to reach $1.5 billion by 2018.*
An active
population can reduce those costs by helping curb obesity. While active
transportation supported in CIM 2040 is not the “silver bullet” to cure the
obesity epidemic, it is a tool available to transportation professionals to
provide additional transportation options, improve our overall transportation
system, and help Idahoans lead more active lives.
*Statistics
courtesy of the Idaho Department of Transportation.
