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What Is Driving Obesity? A Review on the Connections Between Obesity and Motorized Transportation

  • Etiology of Obesity (T Gill, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Traveling by automobile rather than walking or cycling can encourage obesity by eliminating physical activity. As national obesity rates in the USA have reached 37.9% in 2014, understanding the connections between obesity and transportation choices can help policymakers in the public health community propose effective obesity interventions at the national level.

Recent Findings

Following from foundational studies examining associations between the built environment and leisure walking, recent studies consider a diverse set of transportation choices regarding mode (e.g., automobile, walking, public transit) and purpose (e.g., commuting, leisure), along with studies on the effectiveness of several transportation-related interventions for obesity.

Summary

The reviewed studies point toward potential interventions for obesity; there is emerging evidence that commuting by public transit may be one such intervention. Moreover, new data-gathering tools such as global positioning systems, geographic information systems, and accelerometers may alleviate statistical obstacles in conducting future studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 117 Transportation Building, 104 S. Mathews Avenue, MC-238, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Douglas M. King

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 201 North Goodwin Avenue, MC-258, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Sheldon H. Jacobson

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Correspondence to Douglas M. King.

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Douglas M. King and Sheldon H. Jacobson declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Etiology of Obesity

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King, D.M., Jacobson, S.H. What Is Driving Obesity? A Review on the Connections Between Obesity and Motorized Transportation. Curr Obes Rep 6, 3–9 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-017-0238-y

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