Published: Friday, May 25, 2007
Focus on better health, not an idealized shape
Even if graded on a curve, Snohomish County did not fare very well on its recent obesity test results.
According the Snohomish Health District, 60 percent of adults in the county are considered either overweight or obese, with 25 percent considered obese. Adults between the ages of 55 and 64 were the most likely to be obese.
Obesity is defined as carrying enough extra pounds to put a person at risk for serious illness, such as diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and stroke.
The county's numbers mirror the troubling state and national rates. And while the county study only included adults, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 2 million adolescents may be severely obese.
The numbers suggest that the problem is continuing to get worse; our obesity hasn't peaked yet.
Well, it's time to draw a line in the sand. The study should be shocking, but it's easy to shrug off as just more statistics reflecting the reality of our Fast Food Nation.
Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District, makes an important point about the "war on obesity" and the "battle of the bulge" and all the other "clever" monikers advertisers and media like so much.
"This isn't about weight fundamentally, but about being healthy," Goldbaum told Herald reporter Sharon Salyer.
It would help our physical and mental health so much if we could get beyond fat stereotypes, and freaky ideas about what women should look like. So many more people can imagine fitting under the umbrella of "healthy" than ever reaching our idealized, unhealthy images of men and women. There's a large, healthy area between anorexic and obese.
As would be expected, the study also found that adults don't get enough exercise and or eat enough fruits and vegetables. Which is why the health district, in trying to come up with ways to help people reach better health, needs to put a great deal of the focus on children. Healthy (or unhealthy) habits learned in childhood tend to stick. Kids are meant to be active. Recess and physical education classes, rather than being cut as schools are doing frequently these days, need to be made mandatory.
The county should be proud of its free Get Movin' program, which encourages kids and families to be active. Nearly 2,000 children participated last year. The program starts on June 9 this year. Marysville, working with the health district, is also on the right track with its Healthy Communities plan. Its goals include expanding the city's paths, parks and trails. A healthy nation needs to start at home.
According the Snohomish Health District, 60 percent of adults in the county are considered either overweight or obese, with 25 percent considered obese. Adults between the ages of 55 and 64 were the most likely to be obese.
Obesity is defined as carrying enough extra pounds to put a person at risk for serious illness, such as diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and stroke.
The county's numbers mirror the troubling state and national rates. And while the county study only included adults, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 2 million adolescents may be severely obese.
The numbers suggest that the problem is continuing to get worse; our obesity hasn't peaked yet.
Well, it's time to draw a line in the sand. The study should be shocking, but it's easy to shrug off as just more statistics reflecting the reality of our Fast Food Nation.
Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District, makes an important point about the "war on obesity" and the "battle of the bulge" and all the other "clever" monikers advertisers and media like so much.
"This isn't about weight fundamentally, but about being healthy," Goldbaum told Herald reporter Sharon Salyer.
It would help our physical and mental health so much if we could get beyond fat stereotypes, and freaky ideas about what women should look like. So many more people can imagine fitting under the umbrella of "healthy" than ever reaching our idealized, unhealthy images of men and women. There's a large, healthy area between anorexic and obese.
As would be expected, the study also found that adults don't get enough exercise and or eat enough fruits and vegetables. Which is why the health district, in trying to come up with ways to help people reach better health, needs to put a great deal of the focus on children. Healthy (or unhealthy) habits learned in childhood tend to stick. Kids are meant to be active. Recess and physical education classes, rather than being cut as schools are doing frequently these days, need to be made mandatory.
The county should be proud of its free Get Movin' program, which encourages kids and families to be active. Nearly 2,000 children participated last year. The program starts on June 9 this year. Marysville, working with the health district, is also on the right track with its Healthy Communities plan. Its goals include expanding the city's paths, parks and trails. A healthy nation needs to start at home.
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