Walkable areas eyed in battle of bulge

Stapleton's trails, paths part of study in fight vs. obesity

Kari Craig, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 31, 2007 at midnight

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Kendra Jordan can't wait to take advantage of all that the Stapleton community has to offer - the parks, the pool, the new schools and restaurants.

"Everything you need is right there," she said.

The 31-year-old is moving her family to Stapleton's Urban Estates development from their Hilltop home by Thanksgiving, a move that scientists say may be good for her family's health.

On Monday, she and her husband were the first Denverites to sign up for a 10-month, five-city pilot study on walkable communities. Researchers think neighborhoods that offer trails and paths connecting homes, schools and businesses may be a partial solution to the obesity epidemic.

"We know that if you go into neighborhoods that are walkable, people are more active," said James O. Hill, professor and director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and co-principal investigator in the study.

"Finding ways to get families active so we prevent both adults and kids from gaining weight and getting obese, that's what this is about," he said.

He hopes for positive results that will create consumer demand for walkable neighborhoods.

"If there is demand for neighborhoods that are walkable, developers will build them," he said.

The Study of Health in Families in Transition (SHIFT) will follow families as they move from less walkable communities to more walkable ones, measuring how their activity levels and health behaviors are affected. Neighborhoods in St. Louis, Atlanta, San Diego and Sacramento, Calif., also are participating.

Hill's team is working with developers, builders and Realtors to find more families moving to Stapleton from other metro Denver communities this year.

"I don't know why people would not want to participate because it's so interesting," Jordan said. "It isn't an inconvenience."

More activity planned

Like all participants, the Jordans will spend five days wearing accelerometers, pedometer-like devices that measure the amount and intensity of physical activity, six weeks before their move-in date.

They will also keep travel diaries and fill out a survey about their diet, weight and quality of life and about their neighborhood. Six weeks after their move, they will repeat the procedure.

Jordan can see why researchers chose Stapleton as their study site.

"I have two small children, so anything where I can keep them outside and active is very attractive to me. My husband would be so happy to be able to take a bike ride with my daughter, but right now I live at the intersection of two busy streets and it just can't happen."

Still, Jordan said she walks with her children almost every day, be it to Washington Park or on their Sunday brunch trip to Lowry.

Only time will tell whether moving to Stapleton will increase activity level in the Jordan household or if active families like theirs are naturally attracted to the neighborhood.

"That's why this is such a critical project. It will tell us if the neighborhood is making the difference," Hill said..

He believes the study results, which should be available next spring if all data is collected by January, will show that neighborhoods hold the key to fighting obesity.

Obesity on the rise

National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys show that adult obesity has more than doubled in the past 30 years, and prevalence of overweight children has either tripled or nearly tripled in all age groups.

"What we found is that it's happening because people are, on average, eating a little bit more calories than they burn," Hill said. "Our physical activity is decreasing and our calorie intake is increasing . . . There doesn't seem to be an end in site."

Hill says that decreasing intake by 100 calories a day could be all it takes to turn the problem around for many Americans.

"Small changes are critical," he said. "The thought is simply that living in that neighborhood could make the difference."

Feeling like a guinea pig?

If you are moving to Stapleton in the coming months and are interested in participating in the SHIFT study, contact Nicole Edwards at 303-315-9027 or at Nicole.Edwards@UCHSC.edu.

• Online: Visit prc.slu.edu/shift_RWJ.htm for more information on the study.

• Who's behind the study: SHIFT is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy focused on health and health care issues.

craigk@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5618

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