Speakers
• David J. Freeman, partner, Paul Hastings
• Lynn Dee Silver, M.D., M.P.H., assistant commissioner, Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene | Presentation (PDF)
• Hal Strelnick, M.D., director, Division of Community Health, Department of Family & Social Medicine; Montefiore Medical Center | Presentation (PDF)
• Moderator: Dave Biello, associate editor, energy & environment, Scientific American
Shuka Kalantari
Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY
Ninety percent of people's time is spent indoors in the United States, but there is no comprehensive measurement of what people are breathing indoors.
That point was made by David J. Freeman, a partner at Paul Hastings law firm, speaking on a panel about the built environment's impact on public health at the 2008 Urban Health Journalism Workshop at the City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism.
"There's been no comparable disaster in terms of indoor air quality, it hasn't reached public consciousness," Freeman said.
He said that is about to change – and noted that New York City is a prime of example of legislative change. The city has new policies to monitor indoor environment, including green building legislation and tax credits.
"Green buildings are being built by green market demands," Freeman said. "Landlords are realizing that it pays to build green."
New York State landlords don't have to go green, but beginning in December, they have to tell prospective tenants if the indoor air quality of their building is below the Department of Health standards.
"These developments are being driven by an increased appreciation of the impact of built environment on public health," Freeman said.
Our built environment
Our built environment is everything man-made around us – including our homes, schools, parks, transportation systems, air and water quality and even electric transmissions.
It can be linked to chronic diseases such as obesity, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression, and more. Understanding the relationship between health and where we live provides health care journalists with stronger tools to investigate the health of a city's residents.
Our schools
Hal Strelnick, M.D., director of the Division of Community Health, Department of Family & Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, began the panel by talking about oversaturation in our schools and its link to childhood obesity.
"In New York City we have had a major increase in the number of students attending our schools," said Strelnick, who has worked in the South Bronx in for over 30 years. "In order to accommodate the overcrowding of the schools, temporary buildings were built on the playgrounds," said Strelnick.
Many school kitchens in the South Bronx also were converted into classrooms – leaving students with prepackaged foods as meals.
"Focusing only on education has led to the erosion and devaluation of health education in our schools," he said.
Sustainable slimming
Obesity and diabetes is an epidemic in New York City. Between 2002 and 2004, New Yorkers gained 10 million pounds.
"Our biology hasn't changed, our genes haven't changed, so it must be something within our environment," said Lynn Dee Silver, M.D., assistant commissioner of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Silver said people are taking in more calories and doing less physical activity. Children, she said, are taking 10-15 percent of their calories from sugar-sweetened beverages and 100 percent juice.
"What we want," said Silver, "Is an action agenda to lead to greater sustainability and improved health."
