Affirmative Evidence Packet
The Leadership Conference Education Fund, 2011, Transportation Policy and Access to Health Care, p2-3
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- Mortality rate from obesity is very high--Over 160,000 deaths a year.
- Decreased life expectancy for young adults is too high and getting worse.
- 1AC (Short Version)
The Leadership Conference Education Fund, 2011, Transportation Policy and Access to Health Care, p2-3.Streets and highways without sidewalks present an unnecessary barrier to walking.10 Auto-oriented transportation and limited access to walkable streets have resulted in an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle with material consequences for public health.11 Over the past 25 years, childhood obesity has steadily increased as walking trips among children have steadily decreased.12 Obesity and related illnesses disproportionately affect low-income people and people of color,13 and these public health hazards cost billions of dollars annually.14 Obesity costs account for approximately 9 percent of all health care spending in the U.S., and part of these costs are attributable to auto-oriented transportation that inadvertently limits opportunities for physical activity.15
Weight-control Information Network, 2010, “Overweight and Obesity Statistics,” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, February 2010, http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/index.htm Most studies show an increase in mortality rates associated with obesity.Individuals who are obese have a significantly increased risk of death from all causes, compared with healthy weight individuals (BMI 18.5 to 24.9). The increased risk varies by cause of death, and most of this increased risk is due to cardiovascular causes.[11] Obesity is associated with over 112,000 excess deaths due to cardiovascular disease, over 15,000 excess deaths due to cancer, and over 35,000 excess deaths due to non-cancer, non-cardiovascular disease causes per year in the U.S. population, relative to healthy-weight individuals.
Lindholm, 2011, (Raymond Lindholm, Georgia State University College of Law, Center for Health, Law, & Society) “Combating childhood obesity: A survey of laws affecting the built environments of low-income and minority children”, Review of Environment and Health 2011 Nationally, an estimated 10.58 million children between 10 and 17 years of age are overweight and obese (5). This alarming number is of great concern due primarily to the major economic and health implications that obesity carries over the course of a child’s lifetime. Overweight children are at an increased risk of becoming obese adults, and as many as 80% of obese adolescents will become obese adults (8). In turn, obese adults face major health problems as well as shortened life expectancy, ranging anywhere from 8 years in the case of highly obese middle-aged white-American females to 20 years for severely obese black-American males (9). Decreased life expectancy for obese young adults today is estimated to reach as high as 25% (10). Because of the major health implications that accompany overweight and obesity, for the first time in modern history, experts are predicting that the children of today will have a lower life expectancy than their parents (9). 1AC (Short Version)FOUR: SOLVENCY Now is an important time for securing social equity in transportation. Follow Rosa Parks’ example in the 21st Century. Litman and Brenman, 2011. (Todd Litman--Victoria Policy Institute and Marc Brenman—Social Justice Constituency and Senior Policy Advisor to the City Project) “New Social Equity Agenda for Sustainable Transportation (Draft for Discussion)”, March 3, 2011, p.2. On 1 December 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, an African American woman, refused to obey a bus driver’s order to give her seat to a white passenger. This began the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a major event in the U.S. civil rights movement which helped achieve more equitable public policies. How much progress has occurred since? Racial discrimination is now illegal in business, education and employment, and various policies and programs exist to protect minority groups. However, many people still suffer inequities in their ability to access public services and economic opportunities. In terms of transportation, most Montgomery, Alabama African American residents who can drive and afford an automobile are probably better off now because they have more mobility and do not face daily racial discrimination. However, residents of all races who either cannot drive or would prefer to use alternative modes (because they dislike driving, want to save money, or enjoy the physical activity and social interactions of walking, cycling and public transit) are probably worse off because their communities are less walkable, bus service declined and development patterns are more sprawled. Transport system discrimination has changed: it results less from race or ethnicity and more from disability and poverty. This is an important and timely issue. A number of demographic and economic trends are increasing consumer demand for alternative modes and more accessible, walkable communities (Litman 2006), and many citizens, public officials and practitioners sincerely want to address social equity objectives (Sanchez and Brenman 2007). It is therefore important to develop comprehensive and practical methods for evaluating transportation social equity impacts and achieving social equity objectives.
Latino Health Access, Santa Ana, CA, and Beth Glenn—School of Public Health and Johnsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA), “’Pushing Physical Activity, and Justice’”, Preventive Medicine, 49 (2009) 330–33 Increasing the availability of safe-space for physical activity (Babey et al., 2008), opportunities to engage in physical activity during the school day (Cawley et al., 2007), and access to and use of public trans- portation (Lachapelle and Frank, 2009) are environmental strategies that have been found to be related to increased physical activity levels. Low-income, ethnic minority families are less likely to have access to parks or other space for physical activity (Estabrooks et al., 2003), less likely to engage in physical activity during leisure time (Brown et al., 2005) and are more dependent on public transportation (Mather, 2009). Evidence is accumulating that promoting mass transit use may be a promising strategy to increase physical activity levels (Lachapelle and Frank, 2009). However, low-income and minority communities, those most likely to need public transit and who may be more likely to benefit from its use from a physical activity standpoint often have poorest access to these resources. Thus, these environmental change approaches hold the promise of being particularly beneficial for socioeconomically marginalized groups. Therefore, we propose that efforts should be made to mandate the equitable distribution of public resources that will ultimately increase physical activity levels in the population. 1AC (Short Version)Investing in active transportation is the best policy for decreasing obesityOglilve et al, 2011, (David Ogilvie--Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit and the UKCRC Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR); Fiona Bull--School of Sport, Exercise and Health Science, Loughborough University, UK, and the School of Population Health, University of Western Australia. Jane Powell--University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. Ashley R. Cooper--Department of Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. Christian Brand--Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. Nanette Mutrie---Department of Sport, Culture and the Arts, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. John Preston--School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, UK. Harry Rutter--National Obesity Observatory, Oxford, UK. “An Applied Ecological Framework for Evaluating Infrastructure to Promote Walking and Cycling: The iConnect Study” American Journal of Public Health March 2011, Vol 101, No. 3 | Interest in the relation between transportation and public health traditionally has focused on adverse local effects of motor traffic such as noise, air pollution, and injuries1 but now also recognizes the potential health benefits of promoting walking and cycling and the wider adverse effects of dependence on motor vehicles.2 Walking and cycling offer an ideal opportunity for people to incorporate physical activity into their daily lives, reducing their risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and coronary heart disease.3,4 A population shift toward more ‘‘active travel’’ also could help reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions, to which the use of motor vehicles makes a large and inequitably distributed contribution.5–9 Improving the infrastructure for walking and cycling recently has been identified as one of the most important policy recommendations for tackling obesity in both the United States and the United Kingdom.9,10 Such recommendations are largely based on evidence from cross- sectional studies showing that certain characteristics of the physical environment—such as the design of residential neighborhoods and the availability of routes for walking and cycling— may be associated with patterns of physical activity in general and walking and cycling in particular.11,12 However, evidence is limited from studies of actual interventions to show that altering transportation infrastructure or other aspects of the built environment has led to an increase in walking or cycling or a modal shift away from car use, let alone changes in overall physical activity or carbon emissions.13–15 Transportation infrastructure must be improved to solve social exclusion and improve health of minority and low-income communitiesThe Leadership Conference Education Fund, 2011, Transportation Policy and Access to Health Care, p.1. Transportation policy can make a positive impact on health conditions by increasing options for commuters, reducing air pollution, and creating better connections to health services. Conversely, transportation policy that fails to take into account the needs of low-income and minority communities can have extreme and cascading health consequences. Lack of access to affordable transportation is a major contributor to health disparities. It isolates low-income people from health care facilities and forces families to spend a large percentage of their budgets on cars and other expensive options, at the expense of other needs, including health care.1 Our transportation policy also generates public health problems that disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color. As Congress considers a reauthorization of our nation’s surface transportation programs, which will allocate significant federal funds to transportation infrastructure, civil and human rights advocates have an opportunity to advance public health through participation in the transportation policy making process. 1AC (Short Version) Need to shift direction of programming Bradley, et al. 2011. Road to Recovery: Transforming America’s Transportation Infrastructure. (Bill Bradley—former US Senator, Currently Managing Director Allan and Company; Thomas J. Ridge—Former Pennsylvania Governor and Secretary of Homeland Security, Currently CEO of Ridge Global; David M. Walker, former US Comptroller General and Current CEO of Comeback America Initiative) Carnegie Endowment for International Peace p. 50-1 A paradigm shift is needed in the way Americans think about transportation, the services they demand from the nation’s transportation system, and the investments they make in this system. The country needs to shift its focus from seeking mobility to providing greater access, from increasing the speed of travel to improving the reliability and efficiency of transportation services, and from building singular transportation projects to efficiently managing transportation networks. The national concept of transportation has evolved from a glorification of the “freedom of the open road” to an appreciation of the more fundamental freedom of economic, social, and environmental sustainability Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2012 2012 -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? 2012 -> Aa and na members Dying from Tobacco 2012 -> [Baby Crying] 01: 04 [Ching 2012 -> Unit Name / Nom de l’unité uic / ciu dates 2012 -> What We Owe Jehovah’s Witnesses 2012 -> Oceans Challenge Badge 2012 -> Canadian cycling olympians 2012 -> Greg landry, june olkowski and tom lysiak 2012 -> William goldman 2012 -> Does translocation and restocking confer any benefit to the European eel population? A review Download 0.65 Mb. Share with your friends:
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