EXPLORATION : THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 Light and Sound.  Two elements of the physical environment that are not tangible, yet they impact our daily lives.  Our bodies are on a universal clock, tied to the rotation of the earth.  Excluding nocturnal animals, all animals and humans are wired to recognize light with activity and darkness to rest.  According to the WELL Standard, light is the primary driver of the visual and circadian systems.  It regulates physiological rhythms that radiate throughout the body. Disruption to this rhythm results in obesity, diabetes, depression, and other health risks. The associated study translated to simple terms:  Too much light, mainly blue light, from outdoors and screen exposure can lead to disturbed sleep patterns, which affects your health.  To improve our health and subsequent mood, we can reduce other screens such as phone or TV use in the evenings to give our bodies the cues to rest.  The same is true for lack of light.  Less light wi...

 Did you know you consume 15,000 liters of air every day?  That is more than three times the amount of food and beverage consumed in a day.  It is a vital element for survival, and we can not escape it.  So clean air is more important than ever.  What do you think of when you think of air quality?   Most of us probably attribute poor air quality to local factory output, car fumes, tobacco smoke, and residential carbon monoxide.   But it's so much more than these examples.   Candles, stoves, and fireplaces are the most common indoor air pollutants.   We can similarly evaluate water.   While there have been drastic improvements in water treatment over the last century, we find that the treatment systems themselves are a contamination source.   According to the WELL Standard, the added chlorine kills specific organisms, making the water healthier to consume. Yet, the byproduct of certain chemicals leads to harmful health risks such...

I played sports growing up and the highlight of my school day was being on a court or field.  The emphasis at the time seemed to focus on checking a PE box more than the purpose of what we needed it.  Even more emphasis was on winning.  The more wins a school had, the most accolades it got from the community.  And if you did not play a sport, you had “PE” or physical education which was not all that physical. The Obama administration (2009-2017) brought childhood obesity and physical activity into the spotlight with the former first lady’s “Let’s Move” initiative (2010).   According to their website, "To meet our goal, we must accelerate implementation of successful strategies that will prevent and combat obesity. Such strategies include updating child nutrition policies in a way that addresses the best available scientific information, ensuring access to healthy, affordable food in schools and communities, as well as increasing physical activit...

What do you think about when you hear the word environment?  Is it recycling your empty milk carton or Sunday's newspaper?  Is it the smog from the daily commute to work?  What about the paint you are scraping off your great aunt's armoire?  All these examples are part of the environment, yet it is so much more.  The environment is concurrently experienced in multiple scales every second.  At the same time, each scale directly impacts another.  As Bill Davenhall illustrates, the formula for life and good health are genetics, lifestyle, and environment.  However, we rarely consider the environment as a contributor to good health.  If we did, we would have it documented as one of the forms we fill out at the doctor's office. If we break down Jack Lodd, MD's quote: "Geography is destiny in medicine," we could interpr et it as "the environment is an essential factor of good health."   But how can we narrow that down since the environment h...