Dalbey Matthew
Development, Community, and Environment Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
J Public Health Manag Pract. 2008 May-Jun;14(3):238-43. doi: 10.1097/01.PHH.0000316482.65135.e8.
Recent studies on obesity rates show alarming increases across the entire population. Some of these studies indicate higher rates of obesity in rural populations than urban and suburban populations. Obesity in children in rural places also outpaces their suburban and urban counterparts. Although a number of factors account for these differences, public health professionals and researchers have begun to recognize that conventional development patterns and land use policies in rural areas are playing an important role in the trend. Smart growth alternatives to current rural development patterns also support broad public health goals. Rural communities across America face a number of challenges, yet many are using smart growth development strategies to turn the challenges into opportunities. These strategies are structured in a way that builds on broadly held values in rural communities, ones that build upon the traditional development pattern and support multiple community goals. Public health professionals, managers, and academics will benefit from this discussion because it will explain the strategies that rural decision makers, planners, and citizens are adopting to create places that support multiple community goals including a built environment that sustains and promotes active living.
近期关于肥胖率的研究表明，整个人口中肥胖率的增长令人担忧。其中一些研究表明，农村人口的肥胖率高于城市和郊区人口。农村地区儿童的肥胖率也超过了郊区和城市的儿童。尽管有许多因素导致了这些差异，但公共卫生专业人员和研究人员已经开始认识到，农村地区传统的发展模式和土地使用政策在这一趋势中发挥着重要作用。当前农村发展模式的明智增长替代方案也有助于实现广泛的公共卫生目标。美国各地的农村社区面临着诸多挑战，但许多社区正在采用明智增长发展战略，将挑战转化为机遇。这些战略的构建方式基于农村社区广泛持有的价值观，即在传统发展模式的基础上，支持多个社区目标。公共卫生专业人员、管理人员和学者将从本次讨论中受益，因为它将解释农村决策者、规划者和公民正在采用的战略，以创造支持多个社区目标的地方，包括维持和促进积极生活的建筑环境。
