Just 17 years ago, the highest rate of adult obesity in the U.S. was Mississippi's, at 19.4 percent. Today, the state with the lowest rate of adult obesity has a higher rate than Mississippi did in 1995 -- Colorado, at 20.7 percent.
Alabama, at 32 percent, is a leader in this epidemic.
That's the fourth-highest rate of adult obesity in the nation. Alabama also is fourth-highest in diabetes, fifth-highest in rate of physical inactivity and the nation's leader in the number of people with high blood pressure.
In Jefferson County, nearly two-thirds of adults and 22 percent of third-graders are overweight or obese.
"The future of our nation is at stake," said Michelle Larkin, deputy director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health Group. "We can't have a thriving nation without good health."
The roots of this epidemic are simple -- lack of physical activity, choosing too many unhealthy foods, and gobbling down oversized portions. But only now are communities across the nation beginning to learn how to stem this crisis.
Working as individuals or in groups, they tackle obesity from many different directions, because, as Larkin says, "There's no magic bullet; there's not one single answer to fix this problem."
Here's how people are fighting the obesity epidemic in Jefferson County.
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Individuals?
As the sun peeks over Red Mountain, 7-year-old Lily Cameron is walking to school.
She wears a pink backpack and is part of a "walking school bus," a gaggle of schoolchildren flanked by two volunteers who guide them along downtown sidewalks towards Phillips Academy. Parents have brought the children to Jones Valley Training Farm, about a third of a mile from Phillips, at a bit past 7 in the morning, so they can start their school day with physical activity.
"This program is designed to cause a cultural shift," said organizer Kadie Whatley of the United Way of Central Alabama, strolling in the group with her 4-year-old son, Gus. "So a short trip is considered a walkable distance."
LaShell Cameron, Lily's mom, is one of the volunteers. You can tell she's a runner by the blue Vibram Five Finger shoes on her feet.
"My husband is too," she says. "He does marathons and ultras. We have a family history of diabetes and heart disease, and we believe in healthy lifestyles."
Lily has already done the Mercedes Kids Marathon as a first-grader and plans to do it again this year.
But as the nine children near their school, they see a long line of cars. On a beautiful fall morning, perfect for walking and playing outside, each car is dropping a child right at the doorsteps to Phillips Academy.
Another individual fighting obesity is Michael Arrington. He isn't a runner like Lily, and he says he's had ups and downs in his exercise since leaving the Air Force in 2006. But now he is training in a "Couch to 5-K" program and plans to run in Ensley's 5K at the Junction on Nov. 10.
The training is led by a group called Black People Run, Bike and Swim, which encourages physical activity to combat chronic disease and obesity, particularly in the black community. Arrington heard about it at church, the Faith Chapel Christian Center in Ensley.
"We meet every Saturday at 7 a.m. at Railroad Park," Arrington said of the training. "I feel like you have to start with one person at a time."
A chain of consequence
When people like Lily Cameron or Michael Arrington get active, you never know who they may influence.
Ken Storie, the Jefferson County Schools director of athletics, described a chain reaction of healthy activity he has witnessed in the past four years.
It started with a Biggest Winners contest for school system employees in 2009. Teams of five to eight people competed to lose weight over a 12-week period.
"We had a huge response," Storie said. "So we had the idea to do something for kids. Obviously kids don't do enough moving, so we decided we would try an activity contest to track how many miles you run or walk."
Physical education teacher Susan Morgan took on the challenge at Snow Rogers Elementary, Gardendale, in spring 2010. She volunteered to meet students at school at 7 a.m., so they could run or walk until 7:35.
"The beautiful thing is," Storie said, "that when the contest ended, the kids said, 'Why are we stopping?'"
They still meet two mornings a week, as the Bulldog Running Club.
"So that gave me an idea," Storie said. "We wrote a grant to the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham and said, 'Look at what we did at Snow Rogers. What could we do if we had somebody doing this permanently?'"
Storie got the grant and has hired Margie Voltz as part-time wellness coordinator.
Voltz plans to find faculty at 10 schools who share her passion for physical activity and are willing to supervise morning activities.
"There's one other payoff," Storie said of the Snow Rogers running phenomenon. "Since this has started, the attendance has gone up 2 percentage points."
Sounding the alarm?
Some people get shocked into action. At training for a wellness program five years ago, Rebecca Recke was stunned by the first slide.
"They said this younger generation is not going to live as long as our generation," said Recke, a physical education teacher at Bryan Elementary in the north Jefferson County town of Morris. "I'm a mom. When they said that, it kind of lit a fire under me."
That fire has transformed Bryan Elementary.
The school now has a free 5K run in March, with Morris and Warrior police safeguarding the route.
"My word, last year was incredible," Recke said. "We had about 700 people."
On Fridays Bryan Elementary has Math and Muscle. Every child who has accomplished his or her math goals for the week gets to play outside for 30 minutes on the track, or in football and kickball games. Teachers get to wear sneakers on Fridays so they can walk with the children.
Recke has copied the Snow Rogers morning runs. This year's runs are about to start for the third, fourth and fifth grades, and younger children will join in later.
"We play music," Recke said. "All kinds of music, all positive."
Recke's school has also begun a monthly wellness assembly to reinforce eating right, sleeping right and exercising right. Olympic gold medalist Willie Smith spoke at Friday's assembly and gave the older children a speed clinic.
And on the first Monday of each month, Bryan Elementary holds "Breakfast with the Coaches" to stress the importance of good breakfasts and healthy foods.
"These little ones adopt these ideas so readily," Recke said of her students. "Parents tell me, 'My kids are asking for broccoli. What are you doing to them? And why are they fussing at me for drinking sodas?'"
?Crisis for a friend?
Women who are members of The Links service organization were also shocked into action.
Child obesity became a priority when their former area director, who was obese, found she could no longer walk up stairs, said chapter president Vanessa Falls.
Morehouse School of Medicine helped develop the program called "Obesity Prevention Among African-American Children," which has now spread nationwide.
Last Tuesday 10 Links members met 22 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders at Birmingham's Lewis Elementary School in the first session of the program on healthy foods and healthy activity.
Diann Jackson taught the children how to read food labels, looking at the number of calories and the amounts of sugar, fat and salt.
"You get to choose which calories you put in your body," Jackson told the children. "When you go to the grocery store, help your mom, dad, older sister or brother make really good choices."
"It's just amazing the number of students," said Falls of the nationwide problem, "who are not eating healthy and not getting exercise."
Starting with toddlers
?The Jefferson County Department of Health saw a need for action for the county's youngest residents -- about 17,600 infants and toddlers in day care.
Last year it passed sweeping rules for all day care centers with 12 or more children, mandating physical activity, limited screen time and healthy nutrition.
Children 3 and older must have at least 90 minutes of physical activity a day, and children 12 months to 3 years must have at least 60 minutes.
Screen time is completely prohibited for infants and toddlers under 2, and it's limited to 2? hours a week of television, videos, video games or computer use for children 2 and older.
No sugar-sweetened beverages are allowed, fruit juice is limited and children have to get weekly servings of at least one orange vegetable, one dark green vegetable and one legume. For children 2 and older, low-fat milk is required.
Teri Chafin, the department's director of community and dental health, said the new regulations affect about 360 day-care centers and were drafted as part of a $6.3 million grant in 2010 from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fight obesity. The grant is also being used to increase the number of greenways and walking trails in the county, develop walking groups and target health advertising at Latinos and blacks, who have higher rates of obesity.
Revolution in the lunchroom
?Meanwhile, school lunchrooms have been transformed. Under the federal guidelines of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act, pizza and French fries are gone.
Last Wednesday's lunch at Bragg Middle School in Gardendale was:
Lean chicken parmesan with whole wheat noodles.
Fresh steamed squash and broccoli. Fresh apples, pears, plums and bananas; or canned mandarin oranges in light syrup.
One percent, skim or fat-free chocolate milk.
A takeout salad with chicken, spinach, romaine lettuce, carrots and mushrooms.
"We started serving whole grains two years ago," said Cindy Stephenson, lunchroom manager. "It was a total shock to students."
The core lunch is restricted to 650 calories. Each student has to take at least one fruit or one vegetable -- but they can take more than one if they wish. Parents can look online to see which foods their son or daughter bought that day.
"Beginning in 2006, our vending machines were removed or monitored," said Becky Bryant, supervisor of child nutrition for Jefferson County Schools, the largest system in metro Birmingham. "Everything we have (at meals) is reduced fat or low fat."
Twelve Jefferson County elementary schools have federal fresh fruits and vegetable grants. At places like Fultondale Elementary and Chalkville Elementary, children get an afternoon snack that is also an adventure.
"It could be a pack of apple slices today, tomorrow fresh broccoli," said Bryant. Snacks include fresh pineapple slices, jicama -- a Mexican turnip -- mushrooms, bell pepper slices, different kinds of apples, pluots or Grapples, a Washington Gala or Fuji apple infused with grape flavoring.
"It's exposure," Bryant said.
Action in the workplace?
Employers are also fighting the obesity battle, and experts say the money they spend pays off.
"For every $1 invested in wellness, an employer will get $3.27 savings in medical costs and $2.79 in absentee costs," said Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health.
Protective Life Corp., for example, has a fitness center, an acute care clinic with a nurse practitioner, a registered dietitian, an employee assistance program counselor and a massage therapist. Employees can pay less for their health insurance if they do two of the following: Get a health risk assessment, quit smoking or start a smoking cessation program, or walk 6,000 Virgin HealthMiles in the first half of the year.
Those miles are measured by a GoZone pedometer, a high-tech device with a 3-D accelerometer that detects movement in any direction. Employees download their activity by plugging the pedometer into their computers, and Protective rewards high mileage with reduced medical insurance premiums and monetary awards.
"It's easier for large companies to do wellness, because of economies of scale," said Levi. "But even small businesses can do some things."
Levi's report earlier this month, "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future," highlighted how an 18-employee Indiana company, Creative Craftsman, was able to run a wellness program for about $4,000 a year with the help of a local hospital.
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Action on the streets?
Wider use of gadgets like the GoZone pedometers could help tackle two problems listed in the "F as in Fat" report: Some 60 percent of Americans are not active enough to achieve health benefits, and more than a quarter of adults completely avoid leisure-time physical activity.
Current guidelines call for adults to walk 10,000 steps a day, but many fall far short. A majority of those ages 20 to 74 walk less than two to three hours a week, and average less than 5,000 steps a day.
That's the lowest of any industrialized nation, the report said. Adults in Switzerland and Australia average nearly 10,000 steps a day, and adults in Japan more than 7,000 steps a day.
In contrast, the journal Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise found that Old Order Amish in Canada, who do not drive cars, average 18,000 steps a day.
"One problem is we've engineered physical activity out of our lives," said the Johnson Foundation's Larkin. "It's not very easy to be healthy if you live in an unhealthy place."
Part of this is the lack of sidewalks and trails in suburban areas. That's one of the reasons that the Freshwater Land Trust has planned a Red Rock Ridge and Valley Trail System for Jefferson County that would include more than 500 miles of sidewalks and 250 miles of greenways.
And there are other ways that individuals can try to add more fat-busting activity into their lives.
"Right now I'm looking at my car," said Michael Arrington, talking at his workplace, Gestamp Automocion in west Jefferson County. "I have it on the farthest end from where I work. That's just a small step."
Levi calls it "truly a national problem. It will require everyone to pitch in to fix."
Or as Recke says on one of the 5K run T-shirts she made for Bryan Elementary School, "Let's run, y'all."
Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/09/alabamians_fight_states_soarin.html
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