Nationally, the rates of obesity among adults and children are slowing, perhaps even leveling off, after decades of increases.
But that’s not exactly a reason to cheer. About 36 percent of American adults and nearly 17 percent of children are obese, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While obesity rates have begun to slow over the past decade, “the fact is, the obesity rates are incredibly high,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District.
“We’re not seeing a reversal. What I’m seeing are unacceptably high rates of obesity that predict many other diseases down the road,” he said. “That will be very costly to us with a lot more diabetes, heart disease and so on.”
As average weights for both adults and children have increased over the decades, what people think of as normal weight has slid upward right along with it.
“In some families, it’s just normal,” said Dr. Deb Nalty, a family practitioner with Providence Physician Group in Monroe.
Many adults and children may not even realize that they meet the criteria for obesity.
For example, a 5-foot-4-inch woman weighing 174 pounds or more is considered obese; for a 5-foot-9-inch man, 203 pounds or more is considered obese.
For children, it means they’re tipping the scales in the top 5 percent for their age and sex: A 12-year-old boy, 4 foot 9 inches and weighing 118 pounds or a 12-year-old girl, 4 foot 8 inches weighing 115 pounds or more.
The findings on obesity rates, released last week, were part of a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2009-10.
Heidi Blanck, who oversees obesity and prevention control at the CDC, said that when she talks to the public about the issues of childhood obesity, she thinks of it in terms of the impact on a classroom of 25 students.
At the current obesity rates, it would mean at least four of those students are obese. “They’re on the road to type 2 diabetes, strokes, high blood pressure and certain types of cancers at this early age,” she said.
Obesity is even common among infants and toddlers up to age 2, she said, with nearly 10 percent having higher-than-recommended weights.
Older adults haven’t dodged the obesity bullet, either. Adults 60 and up are more likely to be obese than younger adults. “As a society, we’re aging along with excess weight,” she said, with adults typically gaining one to two pounds a year.
Ongoing public attention on obesity and the health problems it causes may be one factor in the recent slowing of national obesity rates, Blanck said.
A number of efforts to increase activity levels at both the national and local levels has meant “folks are considering this beyond a cosmetic issue but more related to a health issue,” Blanck said.
Nalty, the Monroe physician, said she understands that families can feel overwhelmed with the demands of work schedules, kids’ homework and after-school activities, trying to make healthy eating choices and getting regular exercise.
“Families are so stressed out,” she said. They know being overweight is a problem, “but they can’t get away from their old habits.”
She said she tries to talk to kids and parents about little changes they can make, such as parking a car farther away from building doors or taking stairs instead of pushing an elevator button.
Cutting back on sugary drinks doesn’t just mean limiting pop, but also juices and sports drinks, she said.
Food choice is just as important as regular activity in weight control. Weight loss only comes from restricting calories. “It’s what goes in your mouth that matters,” she said.
What may seem like little changes can pay off, she said. And there are success stories among her patients.
“People do succeed,” Nalty said. “It’s not all doom and gloom. I have people come in five pounds less than at their last physical, which is awesome.”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com
Survey’s key findings
•Nearly 36 percent of adults and almost 17 percent of youth were obese in 2009–2010.
There was no change in the obesity rates among adults or children from 2007–2008 to 2009–2010.
There was no difference in the obesity rates among men and women.
Adults aged 60 and over were more likely to be obese than younger adults.
More than just looks
Obesity increases the risk of a number of health problems, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes
By the numbers
•In Washington, 62 percent of adults were either overweight or obese in 2009.
Between 1999 and 2009, the fastest growth in obesity prevalence was in younger adults between the ages of 18-34.
In Snohomish County, 12.4 percent of 8th graders, 9 percent of 10th graders and 10.8 percent of 12th graders were obese in 2010.
In 2008, the most recent data available, 25 percent of county adults were obese, up from 17 percent in 1999.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Washington State Department of Health and the Snohomish Health District.
Every little bit helps
Just 30 minutes of daily activity, such as walking, can help increase health and prevent serious disease. Here’s the link that explains why, one that Dr. Deb Nalty of Monroe most often recommends to her patients: wimp.com/bestthing
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