What’s this about?

The Built Environment & Health (BEH) project is an interdisciplinary program of research at Columbia University. Led by epidemiologist Andrew Rundle, BEH uses spatial data to examine the implications of the built environment, including land use, public transit, and housing, for physical activity, diet, obesity, and other aspects of health. With a focus on New York City, BEH research will inform public policy to promote health in the city and metropolitan area. BEH is affiliated with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program at Columbia.

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People

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  Gina Lovasi

  Investigator

  Gina S. Lovasi (Columbia University Health & Society Scholar, Cohort 4) is an assistant professor in Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.  Her research focuses on the effects of local urban infrastructure on health and health behaviors, as well as differences in these effects across population subgroups, such as young children and adults with different racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds.

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  Lance Freeman

  Investigator

  Lance Freeman is an associate professor of Urban Planning in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

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Articles

• Immigrants’ Eating Habits May Improve with Access To Familiar Foods

  New Projects

  A new study published in the journal Social Science and Medicine indicates U.S. immigrants consider farmers’ markets closest in similarity to home-country food venues.

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• Business Travel Linked to Obesity and Poor Health

  Research Briefs

  Road warriors who travel for business two weeks or more a month have higher body mass index, higher rates of obesity and poorer self-rated health than those who travel less often, according to researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

  The study, conducted by Andrew G. Rundle, DrPH and Catherine A. Richards, MPH, drew data from medical records of more than 13,000 employees in a corporate wellness program provided by EHE International. Nearly 80% of employees traveled at least one night a month and 1% traveled more than 20 nights a month. Findings are online in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

  Overall, the researchers found that business people who traveled the most (20 or more days a month) have poorer health on a number of measures compared with those who travel between 1 and 6 days a month.

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Announcements

• Business Travel Linked to Obesity and Poor Health

  In the Press

  Study finds that self-rated health, body mass index and cholesterol levels worsen with heavy travel

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• GIS Consulting Services

  from BEH Research Group

  With support from the Columbia Population Research Center and the Mailman School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology, the BEH research group is providing GIS and spatial analyses consulting services for investigators developing new research projects.

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