Creating a healthy environment: the impact of the built environment on public health

In its broadest sense, environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, disease, and injury that are determined or influenced by factors in the environment. This includes not only the study of the direct pathological effects of various chemical, physical, and biological agents, but also the effects on health of the broad physical and social environment, which includes housing, urban development, land-use and transportation, industry, and agriculture. " —Healthy People 2010, Prevention. During his tenure at NCEH, he has worked to increase support for stronger environmental health protection efforts throughout federal agencies, to engage CDC and local and state health departments in the genetics " revolution, " and to increase efforts to improve the nutritional status of people in developing countries. In addition, Dr. Jackson is collaborating with groups and individuals from many disciplines; planners, architects, engineers, academicians, and policy makers' to explore the implications of urban sprawl on the nation's environmental health. Environmental Health (NCEH). NCEH is one of CDC's key centers with responsibilities involving the impact that the environment (both natural and manmade) has on human health. In his years at NCEH, Mr. Kochtitzky has also served as Acting Deputy Associate Director of the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Legislation, which is responsible for strategic planning and policy analysis within the center. Kochtitzky received a BA in political science in 1989 from Millsaps College and an MS in planning, with a concentration in environmental and natural resources planning, from Florida State University in 1992. The Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse mission is to make the tools, techniques, and strategies developed to manage growth, accessible to citizens, grassroots organizations, environmentalists, public officials, planners, architects, the media and business leaders. At the Clearinghouse we identify, collect, compile, and disseminate information on the best land use practices, for those listed above. This report and many other sources of information on sprawl and smart growth are available on the World Wide Web at Preface Here at the start of the 21st century our understanding of which factors promote health and which damage health has grown considerably. The diseases of the 21st century will be " chronic " diseases, those that steal vitality and productivity, and consume time and money. These diseases-heart disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, and depression-are diseases that can be moderated by how we design and build our human environment. It is now accepted that, in addition to direct hazards from infectious diseases …