Obesity Rates of Americans

Effort needed to turn around obesity rates

By The Pantagraph Editorial Board | Posted: Monday, July 27, 2009 12:00 am |

If only losing weight were as easy as buying a book, then we wouldn't be faced with reports about the ever growing waistline of the average American.

The latest report from the Trust for American's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says obesity rates increased in nearly half the states last year. Not one state had a decrease.

How could that be when "Cook Yourself Thin" tops the paperback advice category of the New York Times bestseller list? Four of the top 10 in that category deal with improving our eating habits ("Martha Stewart's Cupcakes" doesn't count.)

A look in the hardcover advice category gives us "Master Your Metabolism" by Jillian Michaels, a trainer and coach on NBC's "The Biggest Loser."

But who will the biggest loser be when obese baby boomers - and their obesity-related illnesses - fill the Medicare rolls? The report says baby boomers have a higher obesity rate than any prior generation.

According to the report - whose short title is "F as in Fat" - four states have an adult obesity rate of more than 30 percent: Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia and Tennessee. In 1991, no state had a rate above 20 percent.

Today, more than 25 percent of adults are obese in 31 states, including Illinois, which ranks 27th at 25.9 percent.

Illinois fares even more poorly when it comes to children. Our state has the 10th highest percentage of youths ages 10 to 17 who are overweight or obese - 34.9 percent. That is despite Illinois being among the few states with a requirement for daily physical education in school.

But many schools are granted waivers for that requirement and not all physical education classes include a lot of physical movement.

Among the report's recommendations is to "increase the frequency, intensity and duration of physical activity at school." It also calls for limiting "screen time" - time spent in front of a television set, computer screen or videogame.

Limiting screen time applies to adults, too, as does a suggestion that employers provide workplace wellness programs.

But we shouldn't depend on schools or employers to force us to take steps that we can and should be taking ourselves.

Going for a family walk or bike ride after dinner or on weekends would help fight obesity among both adults and children, for example.

The continued upward trend in overweight and obesity rates will be costly to our health and our wallets - through increased health care expenditures. We need to reverse this trend.

Posted in Editorial on Monday, July 27, 2009 12:00 am Updated: 12:40 pm.
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