A striking relationship between obesity and driving

More driving means less walking.

I try to detour from my subway commute in NYC a few times a week and walk several miles on my way home. It's pleasant, doesn't take much time (30-60 minutes), and effective. When I don't do this (the winter), I can feel the difference in my health.

There is a lot of effort expended trying to get people to "exercise" (at parks, gyms, etc.). But if you're not trying to be an athlete, it's easy to burn out on "exercise." Certainly if you're already obese.

But 2-5 mile walks that:

* go to/from a useful destination

* don't go through pedestrian unfriendly areas (highways and strip malls with no shade and no sidewalk)

* don't go through the ghetto

are not easily found in most of America. It's a shame. I think that's really all most people need.

This article really should get some sort of award for most incoherent graphical data. What in the living blue blazes is "correlation lagged by six years"? The data all go up, the prediction turns sharply downward. That's right, we're all going to be slim...tomorrow.

It seems to be related to sitting, nothing particular about sitting in a car or outside it.