Running risks in the suburbs

Hannah Badland is looking at the design of streets and suburbs and whether they encourage exercise. Picture / Greg Bowker

Life in suburbia could be slowly killing you.

Auckland University of Technology PhD candidate Hannah Badland is embarking on an international study into how life in the suburbs affects our health.

She has already been awarded a post-doctoral fellowship by the Heart Foundation to help fund her involvement, but the New Zealand side of the eight-country project is still dependent on funding by the Health Research Council.

The international study examines urban design and physical activity levels in eight developed nations, and Ms Badland has been earmarked to be the New Zealand team's project manager.

It will involve a collaboration between three universities, Massey, Auckland and AUT, and will likely examine suburbs in North Shore and Waitakere City, and possibly Christchurch.

A key feature of Ms Badland's research is the design of our suburban streets.

Despite their popularity, long cul de sacs are bad news for overall health.

"When you're living in a cul de sac, the distances are a lot longer between your home and where you want to go, so you are much more likely to take your car rather than walk or cycle," said Ms Badland, from AUT's centre of physical activity and nutrition research.

The design of a suburb could also decide its residents' overall health.

The study will look at measuring the body mass index of adult and child residents to assess the theory that neighbourhoods with low walkability will also have less healthy residents.

Research has shown that people who live in suburbs with good walking access walk on average up to 60 minutes more a week - two extra doses of the 30 minutes a day recommended exercise level.

"It may not seem like much, but that could translate to millions of health dollars saved down the line."

Some suburbs on the North Shore with good walkability she cites include central Birkenhead, central Takapuna, Devonport and Glenfield South.

The newer suburb of Albany doesn't fare so well. Ms Badland said its design actually prevented walking.