Older men living in neighborhoods with sidewalks, and with restaurants and other such destinations within walking distance, may be less prone to depression than are men from areas characterized by “suburban sprawl,” according to an April article in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Researchers at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., studied 740 older adults in the Seattle area and found that men living in the more pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods seemed to have fewer symptoms of depression than did their peers in neighborhoods that were not as easy to navigate on foot. The findings did not seem to apply to women, the researchers said – possibly because women tend to have more social support than men, which helps prevent depression, and possibly because women are more likely to seek treatment, rendering them less vulnerable than men are to environmental factors that exacerbate depression.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL36869320070503
2007-07-02
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