Obesity and Inactivity

The overall rate of obesity for adults 18 and older in northeastern Illinois hovers around 20%. The highest rates tend to be found in adults ages 45-54, where the rate of obesity for the region sits at nearly 25%. The figure below shows the overall breakouts per Chicago city, suburban Cook County, and collar counties. The scale of the upward trend in increased obesity is even more alarming. Twenty-two percent of Illinoisans are currently obese compared with 10.9% in 1990. This “doubling trend” is not specific to Illinois. The trends are the same virtually anywhere one looks in the United States.

2002 Overweight and Obesity Rates in Northeastern Illinois

The numbers are equally disturbing when available data related to children in Chicago are examined. In fact, Chicago children make up what has been called “the epicenter of the children obesity epidemic.” Twenty-three percent of Chicago children ages 3-7 are now overweight. In certain communities, including Humboldt Park, Roseland, and Lawndale, these numbers are now more than 45%.

Why does obesity happen? It's not just Doritos and Big Macs, but a lack of physical activity as well. Among youth, lack of physical activity is a particularly big problem. Nationally, fewer than one-third of children walk to school when the distance is less than a mile. And in the city of Chicago, 30.5% of students did not participate in any moderate physical activity during a given week.

What does this have to do with our streets? More than you might think. Though programmatic reasons are heavily involved (schools under budgetary strain cutting physical education classes), this problem also has its roots in our unhealthy environment. Our behavior is largely shaped by environment, and these days, physical activity has in many ways been engineered out of daily life. In northeastern Illinois, we see the signs: streets built without sidewalks or crosswalks, and cars double-parked all the way down the street for school pick-up and drop-off. In fact, upward of 20% of morning rush-hour trips in the region involve driving kids to school.

Resources:
Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children