OTTUMWA —
It’s time to return to running around the backyard with friends and walking to school, said Lynelle Diers.
Diers, clinical director of Wapello County Public Health, responded to a report released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which showed that 29 percent of Iowan adults are obese.
The CDC’s report displayed Iowa as a state in the middle. While nearly one-third of Iowans ranking as severely overweight isn’t good, there are 17 states in worse shape, including Mississippi, which had the highest rate of obesity at 36 percent.
Communities throughout Iowa have programs in place trying to combat the state’s ever-expanding waistline. But Americans’ BMIs are not decreasing. In fact, from 1996 to 2006, obesity in Iowa climbed 36 percent, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.
“But I would challenge that a little bit,” Diers said. “I do believe Ottumwa’s schools have seen some reduction of obesity within our elementary schools. They’ve been watching them very closely the last five to seven years.”
Approximately 17 percent of children and adolescents are obese, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a percentage that has tripled since 1980.
The Ottumwa School District received a Harkin Wellness Grant, implemented a Wellness Committee and re-examined the nutrition of its school lunches following the 2010 Healthy Kids Act.
“The reason why we don’t see an extraordinary drop in percentage is because we really have to look at our environment, at policy, because that’s what’s going to make the biggest change,” Diers said. “We’re trying to make healthy behaviors the norm. So if you want to be unhealthy, that’s your choice, but we’re going to make it more difficult.”
The more wellness programs in a community, the more opportunities there are to reduce the percentage of obesity, Diers said.
Another unfortunate factor of obesity is that it affects those in a lower socio-economic status, Diers said.
“Some of those families, because of what they’re choosing to purchase with what they’re allowed income-wise may not always be the healthiest choice,” Diers said. “Sometimes fresh fruits and vegetables can be more expensive than canned foods.”
If you’re not choosing fresh fruits and vegetables, at least choose frozen ones, Diers said, which are far better than canned.
“When things are put in cans, the sodium level is extremely high for the preservative versus a lot of frozen foods,” Diers said. “And I’m not talking about frozen dinners, I’m talking the bags with just plain frozen vegetables. Some of the frozen dinners ... you really need to look at what is in them.”
Of course, being healthy isn’t just about food, it’s about exercise.
In 2010, Iowa passed the Healthy Kids Act, which requires that every student gets 30 minutes of physical activity a day, schools should comply with nutrition content standards for school lunches and area education agencies should employ or contract with a licensed dietitian.
“When I was raised, walking was a norm,” Diers said. “It was very common for people to walk to school. The environment nowadays is that kids are riding the bus, their parents are taking them, they can sit in front of the TV and play Wii and Xbox, where 40 years ago, kids were playing in yards.”
Obesity across America:
• Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.
• In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.
• 39 states had a prevalence of 25 percent or more; 12 of these had a prevalence of 30 percent or more
• The south had the highest prevalence of obesity (29.5 percent), followed by the Midwest (29 percent), the Northeast (25.3 percent) and the West (24.3 percent).
• No state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20 percent.
— Statistics courtesy of the CDC
Wapello County
Living healthily requires lifestyle change
Nearly one-third of Iowans obese; Ottumwa schools seeing less obesity in children
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