Agenda - Council - 09/13/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

amenities in a community192 influence a person's level of physical activity, with features like parks, recreation facilities, and safe sidewalks promoting increased physical activity that improves health outcomes. Conversely, commenters argued that a lack of these features in a neighborhood could dampen physical activity and contribute to health conditions like obesity that are risk factors for more severe COVID-19 health outcomes. Second, some commenters also suggested that access to healthy food in a neighborhood impacts health outcomes. These commenters reasoned that lacking adequate access to affordable, healthy food or living in a "food desert" may contribute to disparities in diet that influence health outcomes, including contributing to pre-existing conditions that increased risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes. These commenters cited public health research finding "clear evidence for disparities in food access in the United States by income and race."193 Some commenters also suggested that neighborhood environment is connected to other public health outcomes, like mental health and public safety. For example, some research suggests that living in neighborhoods with green space and tree cover correlates with improved mental health outcomes.194 Finally, some commenters argued that activities like installing 192 In public health, this is referred to as "built environment," or the man-made physical aspects of a community (e.g., homes, buildings, streets, open spaces, and infrastructure). 193 J Beaulac, E Kristjansson, S Cummins, A systematic review of food deserts, 1966-2007, Prev Chronic Dis 2009;6(3):A105, http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/jul/08_0163.htm. 194 See, e.g., Yijun Zhang et al. The Association between Green Space and Adolescents' Mental Well -Being: A Systematic Review. International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 17,18 6640 (Sep. 11 2020), doi:10.3390/ijerph17186640; EC South, BC Hohl, MC Kondo, JM MacDonald, CC Branas, Effect of Greening Vacant Land on Mental Health of Community -Dwelling Adults: A Cluster Randomized Trial, JAMA Netw Open. 2018;1(3):e180298 (2018), available at: doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.0298. 130