Healthy Lifestyle La Plata

State of the State

January 2010

I recently traveled to the Front Range for a conference on preventing chronic disease in Colorado and was presented with obesity facts about Coloradoan’s, and it surprised me. While CO is still the leanest state in the union with approximately 19.4% of residents (that’s 659,600 people) being considered obese, we as a state are still increasing our incidence of obesity and overweight at a faster rate than the rest of the country – we just started at a lower point. Our obesity and overweight rates have risen the fastest of any state in the last decade. In Colorado, the annual obesity-related medical expenditures for adults is approximately $874 million.

There was some good news from our state concerning the obesity rate – the number of children considered obese did not rise from 2006 to 2007 (the latest year data is available) but stayed the same. You could look at this two ways – the optimist view that the number of obese kid’s didn’t rise, or the pessimist view that the number of obese kid’s didn’t go down. Either way, it’s not something we should hang our hat on and say the obesity epidemic is going away.

Being obese or overweight increases your risk of most chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and stroke. Health care costs associated with physical inactivity and being overweight were over $76 billion in the US in 2000. Preventable illness makes up 70% of the burden of illness and associated costs (“preventable” means illness caused by lifestyle choices such as being inactive, smoking, eating lots of unhealthy food, and being overweight) and obesity can be associated with one-third of premature deaths in Colorado.

Here are some of the facts facing the children of our state –

• Colorado children living in poverty are three times more likely to be overweight than children from higher income families
• Colorado’s Hispanic children ages 2-14 are three times as likely as their white peers to be overweight
• 92% of Colorado children do not eat the recommended amount of vegetables per day (4 servings recommended, 1 serving = 1/2 cup cooked vegetables, 1 cup raw, 2 cups lettuce)
• 57% of Colorado children do not eat enough fruit each day (5 servings recommended, 1 serving = 1 small apple/banana/orange, 1/2 cup berries)
• 56% of Colorado high school students don’t get the recommended amount of physical activity per day (60-90 minutes) and over 26% watch 3 or more hours of TV per day
• 27% of Colorado children get less than 5 hours of physical activity each week (recommended is 60-90 minutes per day)

Some sobering statistics to be sure, but how can we begin to combat our ever rising obesity epidemic? Healthy eating and making healthy food choices most of the time is a great place to start.

Homework: Instead of making another New Year’s resolution to lose weight or exercise more, make a commitment to live a healthier lifestyle by eating healthy foods most of the time and getting physical activity each day. If you’re a parent, take a week to look at the foods your child/children are eating and see if they meet the recommendations above. Are they getting the amount of physical activity they need? Are you setting a good example by eating healthy foods? What lifestyle changes can your family make that will ensure your child won’t become one of the statistics above? If you don’t have children, do it for yourself or someone you care about. Make a New Year’s commitment to live a healthier life!

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Jeanine Justice has 20 years of experience in nutrition. She is currently the coordinator for the Healthy Lifestyle La Plata Coalition.