THE MORE YOU DRIVE, THE FATTER YOU GET?

THE MORE YOU DRIVE, THE FATTER YOU GET?

Study Shows Car Drives Pack Pounds

Spending more time behind the wheel - and less time on two feet - is evidently adding inches to waistlines and contributing to the nation's obesity epidemic, a new Georgia Tech Study concludes. The Associated Press reports that the survey of 10,500 metro Atlanta residents found that for every extra 30 minutes commuters drove each day, they had a three percent greater chance of being obese than their peers who drove less. The survey also found that people who lived within walking distance of shops - less than a half mile - were seven percent less likely to be obese than their counterparts who had to drive. The report quotes University of British Columbia associate professor Lawrence Frank as saying, "The more driving you do means you're going to weigh more - the more walking means you're going to weigh less." Frank oversaw the study when he worked at Georgia Tech. Some might say that this seems obvious, but AP reports that researchers were surprised to discover that how much time a person spent driving had a greater impact on whether a person was obese than other factors such as income, education, gender or ethnicity. About 91 percent of the people surveyed said they didn't walk to destinations. Many spent more than an hour each day in their cars. The study is expected to appear in the June issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Researchers reportedly tracked participants' travel behavior and measured their height and weight from 2000 to 2002. The study focused on Atlanta, but Frank says the city is not alone.

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