By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

As suburban growth continues in Greater Cincinnati and in metropolitan areas across the nation, concerns about its impact on the health of the elderly and children have heightened.

Suburban sprawl has increased the risks of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, traffic accidents and obesity, experts say. The elderly and children are the most vulnerable, health-care professionals said at a daylong environmental health workshop Tuesday at the University of Cincinnati's Kettering Laboratory.

"We really are in an environmental health crisis," said Dr. Samuel Wilson, deputy director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, N.C. "As we have more urban sprawl and development that gobbles up the natural environment, we have more health problems."

The workshop, titled "Sprawl: The Impact on Vulnerable Populations," drew more than 100 participants - a cross-section that included physicians, planners, lawyers, economists and ordinary citizens.

Greater Cincinnati's sprawl problems haven't yet reached the monumental proportions found in other metropolitan areas, said Joyce Martin, director of UC's Environmental Policy Center. But the health problems from sprawl will get worse if nothing is done, she said.

"We are not at the crisis mode yet," Martin said. "So it's important for us to look at these things before we're at a crisis."

The workshop was sponsored by the Environmental Policy Center, as well as the UC's Center for Environmental Genetics, the Molecular Epidemiology in Children's Environmental Health Training Program and the Department of Environmental Health. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences contributed funding.

The Environmental Policy Center provides a forum for identifying important policy issues in the Tristate.

The featured speakers at Tuesday's workshop focused on health problems created by suburban growth that is characterized by traffic congestion, air pollution, lack of green space, stress and neighborhoods not designed for walking and social interaction.

Those health problems include:

• Respiratory problems. Both the elderly and children are especially susceptible to respiratory problems caused by air pollution, Wilson said. Asthma already has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, costing the nation $12.7 billion in health care a year, he said.

• Obesity. The sedentary lifestyles promoted by suburban areas, where residents must drive everywhere, have contributed to obesity in people of all ages, Wilson said. Physical inactivity and being overweight cause more than 300,000 premature deaths each year, second only to tobacco-related deaths, he said. "We're eating a lot more cheeseburgers and taking fewer walks," Wilson said.

• Traffic accident injuries and deaths. Sprawl has increased traffic congestion and Americans' dependency on the automobile. Those factors, coupled with the lack of sidewalks in many suburban communities, have made it more dangerous to drive and to walk.

Many health experts and planners at the workshop advocated "smart-growth" development to ease the health problems created by suburban sprawl. They favored building pedestrian-friendly communities with mixed land uses, a lot of green space and architectural, economic and racial diversity.

"We have to build environments that appeal to people and get them to be more active," Dr. Howard Frumkin, professor and chairman of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory University in Atlanta.

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com