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Canadian Study Says Urban Design Favouring Pedestrians Helps Reduce Childhood Obesity

Swarajya Staff

Mar 30, 2018, 04:17 PM | Updated 04:16 PM IST

Walking spaces in Bengaluru under TenderSure (Rajiv Malagi/Embarq via WRI india)

A study by the Quebec City-based National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS) in Canada has said that urban design that favours pedestrians and encourages walking can help reduce the occurrences of childhood obesity, reports PTI.

The study claims that pedestrian-friendly infrastructure design including wider pavements and crossing lights have a greater impact in high-density neighbourhoods, thus leading to children having a smaller waist measurement and a lower body mass index (BMI).

Such features can also encourage children to ride bicycles, play outside, and engage in similar activities, all of which help them burn off energy.

Professor Tracie A Barnett, INRS.

Published in the Preventive Medicine journal, the study looked at data collected two years apart in Montreal Canada and studied children who lived in the same neighbourhood during this time and had a family history of obesity.

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