Everett joins countywide fight against fat
Published 10:15 pm Sunday, January 27, 2008
EVERETT — Everett is joining a nationwide battle of the bulging bellies.
Last week it became the third city in the county to sign on to the Snohomish Health District’s Healthy Communities campaign to promote healthier lifestyles.
Marysville and Lynnwood are the other cities finding strategies to encourage exercise and better eating habits at places where people live, work and learn.
“We bring the leaders of a city together and we build deeper relationships and common ground,” said Eric Hatzenbuehler, an educator with the Health District.
It’s all part of a national trend to promote healthy living through efforts such as adding parks, walking paths and community gardens and encouraging good nutrition.
In Everett, the Health District will bring together Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson; Carol Whitehead, superintendent of the Everett School District; Ted Wenta, director of the Everett Family YMCA; Dr. Bill Finley with Everett Clinic; and other community leaders.
The group will help examine the city’s potential for physical activity and access to nutritional information. Later, they will identify projects, policies and programs that help make healthy choices easier to make.
Healthy habits can help prevent serious diseases, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.
Obesity and chronic disease are on the rise in Everett and Snohomish County, according to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, a national survey conducted by states with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The percentage of obese adults in Snohomish County nearly doubled between 1993 and 2004 from 13 to 24 percent, according to the study.
Everett’s adult obesity rate in 2005 was 28.8 percent.
Marysville, the first city to join the program, already created an action plan to make it easier to safely walk and ride bicycles along city streets. The community is also working to promote healthy foods through community gardens and school nutrition programs.
For more information: Drew Simshaw 425-257-7113 or dsimshaw@ci.everett.wa.us.
