European health ministers from 53 countries approved the world’s first charter to fight obesity on Thursday, vowing greater action against the epidemic of expanding waistlines across the continent.

The charter commits governments to things like improving the availability of healthy foods and adopting regulations for safer roads to promote cycling and walking.

You can find the complete 5-page anti-obesity charter here. The language about regulations for safer roads to promote cycling and walking are in section 2.4.6, 2.4.9, and 2.4.11. That last section also puts in a good word for Safe Routes to School.

This is cheery news for anyone interested in healthier people and healthier environments. Getting people to walk and bicycle more often not only shrinks waistlines, it also shrinks air pollution and contributes to energy efficiency.

If you *really* want to know about the environmental benefits of transportation investment, take a look at the National Cooperative Highway Research Program’s “Environmental Benefits of Transportation Investment.” It’s worth the read, even if it is a bit highway-focused.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 21st, 2006 at 4:57 pm by Katie and is filed under Transit and Transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.