A relatively small investment of funds now by the Texas
Legislature to expand outdoor recreational opportunities
will reap huge human and economic rewards in the future by
holding down medical costs and increasing worker productivity,
while also stimulating our economy in the short run.
Press Statement for Immediate Release: Friday, January 30,
2009:
For
More Information Contact:
Ken Kramer, 512-476-6962 or 512-626-4204 Donna Hoffman, 512-477-1729 or 512-299-5776
Sierra Club Says Funding Outdoor Recreation One Way to Fight
Texas Obesity Rate
Group Cites Legislative Opportunities to Act on Parks and
Wildlife Funding
(Austin, TX)-The Sierra Club said today that one way to fight
the growing incidence of obesity in Texas is to enhance
funding for and promotion of outdoor recreation.
Yesterday
the state demographer released a study projecting a tripling
of the obesity rate in Texas over the next thirty years,
with subsequent impacts on medical costs and lost worker
productivity.
The Sierra Club said that action this session
by the Texas Legislature to provide funds for more access
to the outdoors through state parks, local parks, and
other nature recreation would help Texas combat that
trend.
"Providing more opportunities for outdoor recreation
through state and local parks will produce healthier
kids," said
Ken Kramer, state director for Sierra Club. "For
example, new research published in the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine was the latest to demonstrate that access
to green space for inner-city kids lowered the incidence
of childhood obesity. A groundbreaking work by Richard Louv
in 2005, Last Child in the Woods, linked the growing absence
of nature in the lives of today's kids to some of the most
disturbing childhood trends, including the rise in obesity."
"Fortunately," said Kramer, "the Texas Legislature has the
opportunity to take a number of steps this session to expand
outdoor recreation through funding of the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department. In 2007 the Legislature dramatically
increased funding for state parks and local parks grants,
but that level of funding was only for the current two-year
period, and relatively little money was provided for acquiring
new parkland. This session the Legislature needs to make
that level of funding permanent by dedication of most of
the sporting goods tax revenue to parks and appropriation
of those funds for acquisition of more parkland as well as
park maintenance and development."
"A relatively small investment of funds now by the Texas
Legislature to expand outdoor recreational opportunities
will reap huge human and economic rewards in the future by
holding down medical costs and increasing worker productivity,
while also stimulating our economy in the short run,"
concluded Kramer.
