A Cure For Obesity. Professor Terry Young Parks and Protected Areas GEO 435. Aaron Gire

A Cure For Obesity Professor Terry Young Parks and Protected Areas GEO 435 Aaron Gire

A Cure for Obesity Introduction: Many cities in Los Angeles County have an ever-growing population affected by obesity (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 2011). A person is considered to be obese if they are more then 20% heavier than their normal recommended body weight (Brunilda Nazario, 2011). In some cases the Body Mass Index (BMI) is used. A person with a BMI of over 25 is considered to be overweight and a person with a BMI of over 30 is considered to be obese (Brunilda Nazario, 2011). I believe that by increasing the amount of accessible green space we can effectively stop or even reduce the growing rate of obesity within the city of Pomona. In Los Angeles County as a whole, adult obesity rates rose from 13.6% in 1997 to 22.2% in 2007 (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 2011). As these numbers increase, so does the amount of research conducted to answer the question, why? Some researchers, like Robert Garcia from the City Project, point to parks as being the solution to the every growing problem. For the purpose of this paper we are going to explore the relationship that green spaces has with the occurrence of adult obesity. Our main focus will be the city of Pomona and its residents. Are parks the cure for obesity among park poor communities? We are going to use statistical data and spatial analysis to find out if the amount of green space has any correlation with the occurrence of obesity within the city of Pomona. In order to answer the above question we will be comparing Pomona with the bordering city of Diamond Bar. This study should provide a clear understanding of the relationship between obesity and green space.

Methods: For this study obesity measurements will be divided into 4 categories, 1 st quartile, 2 nd quartile, 3 rd quartile, and the 4 th quartile. The first quartile represents the lowest rate of obesity in adults, ranging from 8.4% - 16.4% of the total adult population within the city. The second quartile ranges from 16.7 23.4, the third quartile ranges from 23.6 29, and finally representing the highest rate of obesity found among adults, the fourth quartile ranges from 29.3% 39.9% of the total adult population. The statistical information on obesity was obtained from the Los Angeles Department of Public Health. The Department of Public Health used a small area estimation (SAE) method to determine the prevalence of obesity among the residents of Pomona and Diamond Bar. The data was collected using surveys where the height and weight information was self reported by the sample group. For any surveys that were either not answered or not returned a follow up survey was conducted to fill in any gaps in the data. This data collecting technique provided much more accurate data. The green space data was collected using information provided by the cities that was readily available on their respective websites. The Diamond Bar city website listed all of the parks within the city limit and also provided the developed and non-developed acreage of the green space. The city of Pomona s website listed Figure 1

the parks but did not have any acreage information. In order to gather accurate information on the green space within the city of Pomona I used a Google maps area calculator tool (Draft Logic, 2013). The site allows you to place markers around the perimeter of a particular Figure 2 location (figure 1) and it calculates the size in many different units, acres being one of them (figure 2). To ensure that I was incorporating all of the appropriate areas, I referenced the park maps that are located on the cities website (Draft Logic, 2013). The city of Pomona listed 27 locations on their Park directory, however I only used 25 locations for this study because two of the locations were not parks. Location #3 on the park directory is listed as the Civic Center Plaza, which contains the police department, city hall, the courthouse, and a library. Location #21 is listed as the Renacimiento Community Center, based on the address provided; there is no noticeable green space at this location. In order to obtain an accurate measure of green space within the city of Pomona, I chose to omit the above-mentioned locations. Calculating the available green space for the city of Diamond Bar was much less involved. The city website listed all of the parks and the area of the land (in acres) they occupy. Along with the parks, the city website also lists a 178 acre golf course as public green space (Vision Internet). A public golf course is considered public green space but with very specialized land use in mind. The only way an individual is allowed to use the golf course is if they pay a green fees, even if they don t intend to golf. For those two reasons the golf course located within the city will be omitted from this study.

Once all of the obesity statistics and green space is calculated we will use the following equation to determine the available green space per 10,000 people. Total population of the city divided by 10,000 = X, total park acres divided by X = total green space per 10,000 people. Pop/10,000 = X Acres/X = acres per 10k people. By looking at the acres of green space per 10,000 people we can have a better mental image of the amount of accusable green space within each city. About the cities: In order to have a deeper understanding of the health benefits that green spaces have on the population s weight, we will determine if green space has any correlation with the occurrence of obesity. I believe that we will see a pattern emerge, through research, reveling a direct relationship between the amount of accessible green space and the rate of obesity among the population that has access to it. The city of Pomona is considered to be a vibrant, safe, and beautiful community according to their website. The city has a total land area of 22.84 square miles and a population of 150,119 total residents (United States Census Bureau). Based on the size and population figures, Pomona has a population density of 6,544.29 people per square mile. Within the 22.84 square miles the city of Pomona encompasses, there are a total of 25 parks that the residents can utilize. Pomona s website has 27 line items on their park directory but only 25 of them are parks. For this study I have omitted the Renacimiento Community Centers and Civic Center Plaza. Civic Center Plaza contains city hall, a police station, the library, and a courthouse. The Community Center is located in a residential neighborhood and there is no open green space found there. For those reasons

I have chose to omit them from this study. Of the 25 parks in Pomona, Ganesha Park is the largest park containing sixty acres of green space. There are only two parks in Pomona that even come close to Ganesha in size and they are Washington Park with an area of 22 acres and Palomares Park with 12.8 acres in total green space. Other than the above-mentioned parks the rest are less than ten acres in size, with a few that are not even over one acre in size. When looking at the park system as a whole for the city of Pomona, there are 187.66 acres of total green space. Diamond Bar is located to the southwest and shares the northeast border with the city of Pomona. Diamond Bar occupies 14.88 square miles and has a population density of 3,732 persons per square miles, with a total population of 55,951(Unite Sates Census Bureau). There are a total of nine parks that take up 127 acres of land within the city of Diamond Bar (Vision Internet). The larges park, Sycamore Canyon Park, is 54 acres in size. The smallest park within the city of Diamond Bar is Starshine Park. Starshine Park sits on 2 developed acres with a 1,012-foot walkway around the perimeter. As mentioned earlier, Diamond Bar is home to a 178-acre golf course. The golf course is listed alongside the parks on cities recreation facilities page. Even though the golf course is open to the public and is considered public green space the only activity permitted on the golf course is golfing. If an individual wanted to join a group of golfers to simply observe they must also pay the green fees, even if they do not intend to golf. Being that the golf course serves such a specialized activity and one must pay to utilize it, we will be omitting it from this study.

Obesity Findings: The city of Pomona is made up of 22.84 square miles. There are 150,119 people that call the city of Pomona Home, that gives the city a population density of 6,572.63 people per square mile (United States Census Bureau). According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the city of Pomona falls within the 4 th quartile, where 23.9% 29% of the total population is considered obese, see figure 3. That means that there are 1,571 1,906 people with obesity for every square mile of the city. Figure 3 With a slightly lower population density, the city of Diamond Bar has 55,951 total residents (United States Census Bureau). Having a smaller total land area, 14.88 square miles, the city has a population density of 3,732 people per square mile. According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health 4,697 9,176 of the residents within the city of Diamond Bar are considered obese. That places the city within the first quartile, which ranges from 8.4% 16.4% of the population Figure 4

having a BMI score of over 30, see figure 4 (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 2011). On a per square mile basis there are 313 612 residents that are considered to be obese. Green Space Per 10k people: Now that we have all the information needed to calculate the total amount of green space per 10,000 people, we can apply the equation mentioned in the methods section. This will allow us to use a single numeric value to visualize the amount of accessible green space within each city. Pomona has a total population of 150,119 people and 187.66 acres of accessible green space, 150,119/10,000 = 15.01. That simply means that there are 15.01 units of 10,000 people within the city of Pomona. Next we need to calculate the amount of green space that is available to each unit of 10,000 people with in the city, for this we need to divide the total green space by the number of 10,000 people units. There are 187.66 total acres of public green space in the city of Pomona; we need to find out how many acres there are per 10k people, 187.66/15.01 = 12.5. There are 12.5 acres of green space for every 10,000 residents in the city of Pomona. By applying the same equations to the city of Diamond Bar we can compare the amount of green space per 10k people between the two cities. Diamond Bar has a total population of 55, 951, 55,951/10,000 = 5.59. The city of Diamond Bar has 5.59 units of 10,000 residents that live within the city. The green space within the city comprises a total of 127 acres of land, 127 acres divided by 5.59 units equals 22.71. By applying this equation to both cities we can see that there is a big discrepancy in the amount of green

space available to the residents from the two cities. Within the city of Diamond Bar there are 22.71 acres of green space for every 10,000 residents. As we can clearly see there is nearly double the amount of accessible green space available to the residents in the city of Diamond Bar when compared to Pomona. If we calculate the percentage, Pomona only has 55% of the total green space per 10k people that Diamond Bar residents enjoy. On the other hand Diamond Bar residents have access to 1.81 times the amount of green space than do the residents of Pomona. From a quantity standpoint the residents of Diamond Bar have a clear advantage. Findings: The access to green space has a clear correlation to the rate of obesity amongst the residents that have access to it. In the case of Pomona, when compared with Diamond Bar, the decrease in green space means a rise in the rate of obesity. The rate of obesity in the city of Pomona ranges from 1,571 to 1,906 people for every square mile compared to 313 to 612 people per square mile in the city of Diamond Bar. When looking at the dramatic difference in access to green space one can see that there is definite health benefit with an increase in green space. Case Study: In order to ensure that my findings are not unique to the two cities in questions, I would like to also reference a case study conducted by The City Project in 2011. The study compared Manhattan Beach to the city of Maywood, which are both located within Los Angeles County. Manhattan Beach is considered the skinniest city in Los Angeles County having only a 4% obesity rate among its residents (Foshay, 2011). Maywood on the other hand has the highest rate of obesity at 37% (Foshay, 2011).

The residents of Maywood are not only the largest within Los Angeles County they also have access to the least amount of green space. With only 3 parks for the entire city population they are reported to have only.6 acres for every 1,000 residents (Foshay, 2011). In order to better relate the case study to this paper we will convert the findings in this case study to those used in this paper. For every 10,000 residents that reside within the city of Maywood there is only 6 acres of green space. Manhattan Beach is the skinniest and greenest city within Los Angeles County, with 5.6 acres of green space per 1,000 residents (Foshay, 2011). Manhattan Beach residents enjoy 9.3 times more green space than Maywood residents. Also converting the statistics found in Manhattan Beach to that of this paper, there are 56 acres of green space for every 10,000 residents. When relating these findings to that of this paper it is clear to see that green space has a direct correlation with the occurrence of obesity. The more green space that people have access to, the lower the rate of obesity will be. It is not a coincidence that the skinniest city within Los Angeles County also has the most green space. There is clearly a discrepancy amongst cities within Los Angeles County, as to the amount of accessable green space. Conclusion: Many cities in Los Angeles County have an ever-growing population affected by obesity. The growing health risk may be easier to control then we think. Based on the findings of this paper we need simply to increase the accessible green space. Parks may in fact be the solution needed to curb the growth of obesity within may park poor communities.

Based on the statistical and spatial data, the amount of green space has a direct correlation with the occurrence of obesity within the city of Pomona. As is evident among the four cities that were reviewed in this paper, increased green space means lower obesity rates. Green space is vital to the health and wellness of human beings. The need to increase the amount of green space amongst the park poor communities is clear. I believe that this study provides a clear understanding of the relationship between obesity and green space. Call to Action: The idea of increasing green space is simple but the application has proven difficult. One measure, the State Quimby Act, which was established in 1965, has failed at providing additional green space for park poor communities (Westrup, 2002). The act required developers to either set aside land or pay fees in order for the city to purchase land for green space. The Quimby Act was originally designed to provide 3-5 acres per 1,000 residents (Westrup, 2002). Clearly may cities including Pomona have fallen short of that goal. The State Quimby Act was designed to provide new communities with green space. It was not designed to address infill that occurs within existing communities. The problem with Quimby funds is that in order for the city to use the funds they must purchase land for a new park or improve existing green space, they cannot be used for maintenance of existing park facilities (Westrup, 2002). The funds must also be used within 2-mile radius of the origin of the funds. In most cases new land is not available for purchase within already developed communities. The funds cannot be spent if the specific criteria are not meet. When funds are not spent a surplus of unusable funds

begins to develop. The surplus funds need to be redirected to cities within Los Angeles County, such as Pomona and Maywood. By redirecting surplus Quimby funds it will allow already developed cities to purchase land when it becomes available. The cities with the grates surplus of funds meet or exceed the 3-5 acre per person vision that the State Quimby Act set out to achieve (Foshay, 2011). By amending the Quimby Act and removing the radius restrictions, the funds will be more productive. The median home value in the city of Pomona is $311,000 compared to that of Manhattan Beach at $1,000,000 (United States Census Bureau). If the only land that is available for purchase is already developed then in cities like Pomona, three times the amount of land can be purchased when compared to Manhattan Beach. If in fact parks can be a cure for obesity, we need to make sure that we are utilizing all of our available resources to provide that cure to the residents within our communities.

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