City living holds back aging?

Yes, apparently by 4 to 12 years.

News articles are reporting results of a new study, Suburban sprawl and physical and mental health, from the journal, Public Health. Here’s an abstract:

“Sprawl significantly predicts chronic medical conditions and health-related quality of life, but not mental health disorders. An increase in sprawl from one standard deviation less to one standard deviation more than average implies 96 more chronic medical problems per 1000 residents, which is approximately similar to an aging of the population of 4 years.”

Based on study results, that means the residents in a community with a suburban density like, but not specifically Riverside, CA will live 12 years less than the residents in an average community with a density like, but not specifically New York City, with 23% less heart disease, 35% less stroke, 16% less physical disability, 20% less arthritis, 6% less diabetes, 3% less asthma/allergies, 30% less emphysema/lung disease, 20% less migraines/chronic headaches, and for goodness sakes, even 8% less cancer. See the study for the full list.

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neilkt