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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A professor has conducted a survey of ordinances in Utah cities to determine whether they promote healthy behaviors like walking, biking and eating nutritious food.
Shaunna Burbidge, who now teaches at the University of Utah, conducted the study earlier this year while at Brigham Young University.
Her goal is to get Utah cities to recognize their role in making residents fit or fat and for them to offer choices.
Burbidge's study involved having BYU undergraduate students analyze zoning codes, master plans and ordinances of 81 Utah cities with populations of 5,000 and above. They looked for evidence of cities requiring things like sidewalks, bike lanes, recreational facilities and other features that encourage physical activity.
Burbidge's preliminary analysis found most Utah cities include half of those types of ordinances.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
