Physical Activity- Community
Making the healthy choice the easy choice
An ideal healthy community is one where the environment, policies, and social structure not only allow for regular physical activity, but encourage it as a normal way of doing things in the community. The Physical Activity, Nutrition, & Obesity program focuses its efforts on addressing some of the policy and environmental factors that influence physical activity by working with community partners and governmental organizations to make the healthy choice the easy choice wherever you are.
Take for example the way most communities are set up for transportation. There are many roads, some sidewalks, and rare bike lanes. The transportation design is focused on taking care of automobile traffic, a design that has become common since the 1950's. However, healthy communities incorporate a "Complete Streets" framework that gives equal thought to automobile, pedestrian, and cycling traffic. By working with a variety of partners, PANO strives to improve planning design for transportation, walkable communities, improved accessibility for all residents, and a healthier Utah.
