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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta, GA | Posted: February 18, 2008
Numerous studies have been conducted on impacts of the built environment on obesity rates. However, different policy conclusions and implications have been suggested based on how the model is specified, and how sociodemographic characteristics are defined and used in the model. A recently published article entitled "Explaining obesity with urban form: a cautionary tale" explores these challenges.
The article uses an examination of different model forms and specifications with the SMARTRAQ travel survey database from Atlanta to demonstrate that certain factors do influence study results and conclusions. In particular, the relationship between urban form and obesity is sensistive to age, income, educational attainment, and land-use mix variables. The authors conclude by offering modeling recommendations for future studies.
The article appears in the March 2008 issue of Transportation. It was co-authored by Tudor D. Bodea, Dr. Laurie A. Garrow, and Dr. Michael D. Meyer of Georgia Tech's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Dr. Catherine L. Ross, Harry West Professor of Quality Growth and Regional Development and director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD) at Georgia Tech.
