The skinny on our obesity problem
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The Rowan County Health Department presented the 2009 Community Health Needs Assessment to the Rowan County Board of Health on Jan. 12. Leonard Wood, public health director, described how the department established a Community Health Assessment Committee (CHAC) in November 2008 to begin the process of evaluating citizen and agency responses to health related priorities for Rowan County. The CHAC was composed of 41 Rowan County citizens representing private and public agencies, public education, the medical community, the Board of Health, Cooperative Extension, Healthy Rowan, community foundations, Social Services, Piedmont Behavioral Healthcare, Catawba and Livingstone Colleges, the Hispanic Coalition and other agencies interested in participating in this assessment. In addition, 14 focus groups were held to collect primary health care data from citizens across the county. The themes that kept re-occurring from both the CHAC and the focus groups were in the following priority order: concerns about obesity, access to affordable health care/health insurance, diabetes and other chronic diseases, minority health disparities and individual responsibility for their own health care.
Obesity is not just a concern of how much you weigh; the problems of obesity lead to detrimental and life-threatening chronic diseases. These diseases include: heart disease, hypertension, stroke, Type II diabetes, infertility, gallbladder disease, cancer, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and depression. Obese individuals have a 37.4 percent higher annual medical cost than their healthier peers, and according to the Health Affairs Web site, this will translate to an increase in the national cost of health care, both direct and indirect, of $75.64 billion for 2011 for adults 18 and over. For young people age 10-17, the cost of being overweight and obese is estimated to be $164.95 million for 2011. These cost figures are staggering.
A 2007 study completed at Duke University found that the number of lost work days for obese adults in North Carolina was 13 times higher compared to healthier employees. The American Journal of Health Promotions reported that obese workers have up to 21 percent higher health care cost for their N.C. employers. Finally, Be Active North Carolina, Inc., has reported that overweight or obese adults will lose $250,000 in work-related productivity over the course of their working career.
The Community Health Assessment reported that the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey in Rowan County found that 32 percent of adults had a BMI (Body Mass Index) equal to or above 30. The Centers for Disease Control states that anyone with a BMI of 25-29 is overweight and anyone with a BMI of 30 and above is obese. In 2009, Rowan Regional Medical Center, in collaboration with the Rowan-Salisbury School System, conducted BMI measurements among a representative sample of elementary aged students. The BMI data revealed that more than one in three students (35.5 percent) were obese or overweight. Systemwide, this translated to 3,450 students with an unhealthy weight.
What is the impact to our community if all of us do not address this issue and bring it to the attention of the community on a regular basis?
The answer is simple: If we continue to consume more calories than we burn, we are faced with higher health care costs, premature deaths, a lifetime of chronic diseases, poor health, poor quality of life, and dependency on prescription drugs. Health insurance companies and public insurers must require recipients to adopt a healthier lifestyle or take on a greater financial responsibility for their health care costs. Our health care system does not offer incentives to stop our bad habits: over-eating, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse and other detrimental personal choices that impact our health. Poor diet and physical inactivity will soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
Today’s generation of children and adolescents may experience disability and death at an age earlier than our parents and grandparents, reversing a longstanding pattern of general improvement in health, productivity and quality of life. In closing, prevention and education are critical parts of the formula to improve one’s health and reduce the cost of health care.Choosing good health habits, educating our citizens about the problems associated with poor nutrition and practicing prevention will surely provide us with a healthier future.
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Leonard Wood is director of the Rowan County Health Department; Amy Smith is the department’s health education specialist.
By Leonard Wood and Amy Smith
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