WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Living in the suburbs may have once been part of the American dream but it can lead to nightmares such as high blood pressure, arthritis and headaches, researchers reported on Monday.
An adult living somewhere like Atlanta, with its spread-out suburbs and car-heavy culture, will have a health profile that looks like that of someone who lives in Seattle -- but who is four years older, the study found.
And the culprit seems to be exercise, or the lack of it, the researchers report in the October issue of the journal Public Health.
"This is the first study that analyzes suburban sprawl and a broad range of chronic health conditions," said Roland Sturm, an economist at the Rand Corp.'s Rand Health unit who helped write the study.
"We know from previous studies that suburban sprawl reduces the time people spend walking Full <http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=6342369§ion=news>