July 08--Texas is one of the nation's fattest states and we've nearly doubled our obesity rate in the past 15 years, according to a new report.
In 1995, fewer than 20 percent of adults were obese in each state and the District of Columbia. That year, Texas was the 16th plumpest with 16 percent of adults considered obese.
Now, all but one state (Colorado) tips over the 20 percent obesity rate and 38 states exceed 25 percent. In 2010, Texas ranked No. 12 with 30 percent of adults with a body mass index of 30 or higher. Mississippi hasn't been able to shake its No. 1 rank, growing from 19 percent of adults considered obese in 1995 to 34 percent today.
Those figures don't take into account those Texans who are simply overweight. Lump them in and two-thirds of adults statewide are too heavy.
"We take an annual snapshot to see how states are doing in the fight against obesity, and we put it out there to communicate we still have a very serious fight," said Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, which wrote the yearly state-by-state report with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "We have a less healthy country, which has a huge impact on health care costs. The more obesity, the more diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and certain types of cancers. It all affects our productivity and our economic competitiveness."
Expert not surprised
The numbers are even worse for Texans who are black, Hispanic, poor or who did not graduate from high school. In 2007, 20 percent of the state's youngsters 10 to 17 were considered obese, the report said.
The findings didn't surprise Tracey Ledoux, a psychologist and nutritionist who researches overeating behaviors at the University of Houston.
"You see fast food available everywhere. You see food deserts -- areas without grocery stores in lower socioeconomic areas -- and that's where you see the highest obesity rates," she said.
Ledoux thinks the solution should include "making healthier food available, limiting food deserts, making grocery stores have appetizing produce for a cheap price and rules for food marketed to children. On the individual level: More information, responsibility and motivation."
Costly insurance claims
Rebecca Leal, director of corporate, executive and wellness programs for Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, said Houston companies are recognizing that obesity is a major cause of more costly insurance claims. The obesity report noted rising diabetes and hypertension rates in Texas.
"They can't afford employees who just won't do anything about the obesity issue and take care of themselves," she said. "They've got a captive audience and they have to do something while they're there and hopefully taking it home. ... They're going to save money overall with less sick time and fewer claims."
The Texas Department of State Health Services provides grants to community programs that promote healthy eating, produce consumption and physical activity. The obesity rate hike was among factors that led the Houston health department to start farmers markets and community gardens in underserved communities.
Programs focus on kids
Many programs in the Houston area focus on childhood obesity by encouraging behavior changes for parents, caregivers and kids. One is "Fit N Fun," a fitness and nutrition program for Galveston families with overweight children -- the overwhelming majority of whom have a parent or grandparent with diabetes.
"They are consuming a pretty significantly large amount of calories on a daily basis. If you follow these children over months, their height catches up because they're growing ... so they get to a normal body mass index," said Dr. David McCormick, a UTMB pediatrician and the program's medical adviser.
William Wong, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine's Children's Nutrition Research Center, works with Camp K'aana, a weight management summer camp for children 10 to 14 where the average participant loses 10 pounds over two weeks, he said.
"Camp K'aana is to show them that being physically active is not so bad and in fact, it's kind of fun," Wong said. "We teach them how to read food labels. We show them healthy habits and how to avoid food pushers, like the grandmothers who say 'I made this just for you,' and cultural perceptions that the kids are too skinny."
cindy.george@chron.com
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