American Academy of Pediatrics Prescirbe Smart Growth

Image by studio-d via Flickr

Interesting announcement from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

From Smart Growth Around America...

Yesterday, the American Academy of Pediatrics adopted a ground-breaking policy statement on the link between how we build communities and the health of the children in those communities. The American Academy of Pediatrics policy:

• reviews the many links between community design and overall child health, and the strong statistical validation of those links;
• encourages pediatricians to work with parents to promote more walkable, livable communities,
• calls on cities, states, and the US government to plan for and invest in communities that best advance the health, safety, and well being of American families.
  

This is really remarkable: the nation’s leading group of pediatricians saying, based on the evidence, that the way we’re building isn’t good for kids.

While we are facing an economic downturn, now is the time where cities can promote infill development, new urbanism principles, and more bike/pedistrian-friendly in their development patterns.