There is now a well-publicized epidemic of obesity in the United States, and because of the projected enormous costs this may entail, efforts are being focussed on prevention. One of the causal factors of obesity is inadequate physical activity, and citizens now are less physically active than in the past, and less than has been recommended by the Surgeon General, despite years of educational efforts and individual counseling.

    One of the reasons for this is that physical activity has been engineered out of daily life, as people walk less, drive more, use elevators, and work in sedentary jobs. Places where we live and work do not encourage walking and physical activity. Research shows that improving access to places for physical activity can result in increases in the number of people who get the recommended amount of physical activity. Research is also showing that people who live in more walkable neighborhoods are more likely to walk and get more physical activity. Planners can redesign activity back into people's lives by planning environments where it is easy to be active.

    There are many ways to redesign our communities to encourage walking- one way is to start with neighborhoods and work to improve them step by step. Our project encourages the use of walking audits, which is one tool for a community to improve safety and attractiveness for walking. These audits can be brief and simple, or can be extensively planned to include Department of Transportation or Public Works staff, councilmembers, public safety, neighborhood representatives etc.

    We also encourage the use of Health Impact Assessments- a tool that is derived from Environmental Impact Assessments, and is now very popular in Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as in some parts of the U.S. With Public Health, we are participating in a pilot HIA for Burien Town Square, and now one at the Beacon Hill Sound Transit Station.

Feet First's work is intended to support Washington's communities. Please support our work by volunteering or receiving training to become a neighborhood champion.  Your tax-deductible donation will increase our capacity to serve more communities.