There is an old saying: The way you make your bed is the way you sleep in it. That may be true to some extent, but there is another twist to that saying that greatly affects our health: the way your environment is structured is the way your health will go. What this means in the simplest of terms is that an environment filled with inaccessible building structures, streets, sidewalks, and stores, and one that is devoid of good role models, will spawn poor health habits among its residents.
Read the entire column at http://www.ncpad.org/283/1796/2005-06~Issue~~Environmental~Disability.