Health and the Built Environment
The relationship between health and the built environment can be determined under different approaches such as:
•The built environment, which encompasses physical elements such as buildings, streets, open spaces and infrastructure in general, and its condition to promote physical activity.
•The classification and use of land, and its effects on the quality of water, air and health in general.
•The morphology of cities and its influence on people's lifestyles.
•The influence of recreation areas, parks and gardens on mental health.
Nutritional Health
In 2010, the law on “Healthy Eating – Children and Adolescents of School Age” (CABA Law No. 3,704) was enacted and regulated in 2013, which provides a regulatory framework linked to the implementation of actions and educational policies for Nutritional Food Education in schools. It proposes guidelines for food services provided in the school environment, regulates the operation of kiosks and promotes Nutritional Food Education, both in the public and private spheres. In this way, its main objective is to promote the consumption of healthy foods in schools and generate changes in the eating behavior of boys, girls and adolescents. (Law 3704, Buenos Aires 2010).
Man has always had a diversified diet, which has allowed him to live and adapt to different climates and geographies, using the resources that nature provided him. In this way, it was possible to guarantee the incorporation of all the nutrients that the body needed. (Fischler, 1995).
This is how the concept of healthy eating has evolved throughout history and today, there may be more than one way to define it.
From our approach, we understand that a Healthy Diet is one that provides safe, nutritious and culturally accepted foods, necessary to grow and develop appropriately, maintain and preserve health, avoid diseases; also contributing to the balance of the environment..
The Argentine doctor Pedro Escudero (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1887-1963), known as the “father of nutrition” in our country and founder and first Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, defined Nutrition as a state of health that can be evaluated and modified and that is the result of three times that are related to each other: feeding, metabolism and excretion. Thus, it framed nutrition from the choice of food to the moment of absorption of nutrients.
Food for Escudero had to be based on 4 fundamental laws, which are related to each other:
Law of quantity: “Food must be sufficient to cover the body's caloric needs and maintain its balance.” That is, through food it is necessary to replace the amount of energy that the body consumes daily to perform its functions.
Law of quality: “The diet must be complete in its composition to offer the body all the substances that make it up.” That is to say, an intake of varied foods will provide all the nutrients that make up the body. If the diet lacks variety, it may be incomplete.
Law of harmony: “The amounts of the various nutritional principles that make up the diet must be in proportion to each other.” Thus the concept of proportionality between the different components arises; That is to say, they should not be administered arbitrarily, as there is a risk of a lack of some nutrient. For this reason, in a healthy person, 50-60% of daily calories should be incorporated through carbohydrates; 25-30%, through fats, and between 10-15%, through proteins.
Law of adequacy: “The purpose of food is subject to its adequacy to the body.” The purpose of food is to satisfy all the needs of the body; In the healthy man it must preserve health and in the sick man it must promote healing and maintain the general condition. Adequacy is achieved if the diet adapts to tastes, habits, cultural and religious beliefs, health status, etc. of the individual who ingests it. (López, 2014).
Through these laws, the foundations were laid for the birth and growth of nutrition science in Argentina. Over time, knowledge in this science and nutrition itself has evolved, which explains the emergence of new tools or guidelines on nutrition.
Physical Health
Physical health can be viewed as the absence of disease, or the process by which a person's physical condition can enable healthy levels of endurance, strength, agility, skill, coordination and flexibility. Diet, physical exercise, rest and hygiene are the main factors that influence health.
Research aimed at identifying the environmental factors that influence people's physical health has determined that the morphology of cities and the elements that compose them encourage common behaviors and decisions among their inhabitants according to the activities that their spaces allow and encourage. Diffuse cities, with low density and with categorized land uses have the effect of dependency on the vehicle as a means of transportation. These urbanization models in which there are long distances separating areas of residence, commerce and institutions have driven the use of motor vehicles and consequently increased air pollution and the incidence of respiratory diseases such as asthma. This type of city with a dispersed physiognomy presents an urban design that responds primarily to the needs of the automobile and therefore induces sedentary lifestyles with an absence of physical activity that end up contributing to the incidence of overweight and obesity.[5].
According to the United States Public Health Commission, people who practice physical activity have a lower mortality rate, lower risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases, prevention of high blood pressure, lower risk of colon cancer, low risk of developing type 2 diabetes, weight reduction and good distribution of body fat, relief from symptoms of depression and anxiety, improvement in mood, and an apparent improvement in quality of life and psychological well-being in terms associated with health. The physical environment is a determining factor in the stimuli for physical activity, and its characterization can present opportunities and barriers for people who participate in physical exercises. The presence or absence of sidewalks, street lighting, traffic, and safe spaces are environmental variables that play a role in motivating people to engage in physical activity. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States has determined that the main reasons that discourage the practice of physical exercise are the lack of facilities such as parks and open spaces, and the feeling of insecurity associated with these spaces.[6].
Mental Health
From the perspective of mental health we can observe our living environments and find urban areas with an accumulation of psychosocial and social risk factors. It is known that these factors have negative influences on mental health, being associated with mental disorders.
Those environments that favor social and emotional relationships, whether family, professional, or neighborhood, those that favor the integration of the individual and their personal development, as well as those that promote good physical fitness are very important in containing mental suffering caused by external or internal circumstances. Those that contain natural elements, such as parks, gardens, patios, recreation areas, are associated with reducing the stress and anxiety of urban life, increasing work performance, improving attention in children with attention deficit disorder, and improving the cognitive and emotional development of children.[7].