Re: Beach cities' next wave: getting healthier
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beach-cities-20111003,0,974917.story
Letters to the Editor
LA Times
letters@latimes.com
October 4, 2011
Dear Editor:
On Sunday, you reported on the Vitality City project. As a Public Health student, I am pleased with this shift in local health policy toward prevention, especially against the backdrop of healthcare reform. People often fail to recognize the critical role that the social environment and the built environment play in shaping community health. Your zip code is often a strikingly better predictor of health that your genetic code. The policies these cities are implementing are indeed aimed at changing human behavior, but they rest on the premise that people make decisions based on context, based on the choices that are available and by the norms in the community. Focusing on environmental changes will help to remedy costly health conditions, such as those associated with obesity. After all, it is not only healthcare policy that affects health. Local collaboration across sectors is what will ultimately foster healthier communities and keep people out of the hospital.
Sincerely,
Tessa Mochizuki
2535 Channing Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
tmochizuki@berkeley.edu
(925) 413-5598
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