Science sez: Living in New York is keeping you in shape!

We all know that living in New York means a walking-heavy lifestyle. Host any friend who’s visiting from a distant suburb and they’re eventually going to complain about it, much to your amusement. And while all that walking makes you feel like you’re in good shape, science is here to let you know that yes, all that walking is empirically better for your health than driving around the suburbs.In an article about the perils of the long, car-based commute, the New York Times‘ Jane E. Brody mentioned a study that proves, with numbers and everything, that all that walking is doing great things for you. Brody excerpted a quote from Leigh Gallagher’s The End of Suburbia noted that:

“In places where people walk more, obesity rates are much lower,” she noted. “New Yorkers, perhaps the ultimate walkers, weigh six or seven pounds less on average than suburban Americans.”

Now, are there other things that could contributing to keeping the weight off, like not eating from stress, not eating because food is expensive and not eating because you’ve been waiting on a line for a ramen burger for two days? We suppose. But on the other hand, it’s good to know that those times you drunkenly decide to not wait for an MTA shuttle and just walk the mile home are doing wonderful things for your body.