Thesis on "Obesity Epidemic in North Carolina"

Thesis 5 pages (1684 words) Sources: 6 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

obesity Epidemic in North Carolina

North Carolina: The costs of obesity, finding the solution

Recently, much attention has been given to our nation's financial crisis. However, it is important to remember the toll obesity takes upon our nation. Obesity is a public health crisis that has been growing over the past decades, and unless action is taken now to prevent it from spiraling out of control, particularly in today's youth, the emotional, physical, and financial costs will be overwhelming to the healthcare system. At present, North Carolina is ranked as the 17th most overweight state in the entire United States. 62.3% of North Carolina adults are considered overweight or obese, compared to the national median of 61.6%. What is perhaps even more surprising is the pace at which this dubious honor was won: the percentage of N.C. adults who are obese doubled from approximately 13% in 1990 to 27% of the population in 2006 (the Obesity Epidemic in North Carolina, Eat Smart Move More, 2008).

In 2003, it was estimated that the health care costs related to obesity in North Carolina cost the state in excess of 24.1 billion a year. Medical costs due to excess weight and obesity accounted for 83 million in medical costs in 2003. Obese individuals had health care costs 32% higher than those with healthy weights. 7% of N.C. Medicare expenditures and 11.5% of N.C. Medicaid expenditures were attributed to obesity. In 2003 obese teens had Medicare costs that were 25% higher than the non-obese adolescents of the same age category. In North Carolina it is estimated that the direct and indirect costs of obesity in N.C. youth is nearly 16 million dollars per year (the Obesity Epidemic in North Carolina, Eat Smart Move More, 2008).

Given that North Carolina houses Duke University, which boasts one of the nation's premiere weight loss centers, within its borders these statistics are shocking and sobering. Addressing obesity has always proven difficult, as it is a problem with many causes, causes that may differ depending upon the obese person's socioeconomic status, culture, and medical history. However, the usual prescription for obesity boils down to eating less and moving more. Even if these steps do not explain North Carolina's obesity problem entirely, statistics suggest that North Carolinians are not eating enough fruits and vegetables and not moving enough.

Of adults in the state 24% report no leisure-time physical activity and only 42% actually engage in the recommended amount of physical activity for adults. 24.7% of adults say they do not engage in any physical activity as compared to 22% nationally (the Obesity Epidemic in North Carolina, Eat Smart Move More, 2008). The recommended amount of physical activity, it should be noted, is quite modest, averaging 30 minutes 2-3 days per week. Cars make it easy and convenient to drive, not walk nearly everywhere, even for children who should be the most active of all age groups. For children in urban areas, safety concerns often makes parents keep them inside, and affluent youths have many attractions such as televisions in their room and video games that keep them inside, occupied -- and sedentary. Even modest measures are not being taken: a survey of North Carolina parents found that while 10.7% of children and youth ages 5-17 live between one to two miles from school, only 2.4% walk to school at least four days a week (the Obesity Epidemic in North Carolina, Eat Smart Move More, 2008).

Making North Carolina more 'walkable' is one easy, albeit not comprehensive step to addressing the obesity epidemic. Mandating that towns repair sidewalks and create new ones leading to schools, having state-wide 'walk or bike to work days' (for at least part of the commute), are some of the endeavors that can facilitate walking and leisure-time activities. For those individuals without access or time to work out, giving companies tax breaks who install on-site gym facilities is another incentive option. In Google headquarters in California, its famously healthy workforce has 24/7 access to gym and fitness classes, and while providing every North Carolina worker with such luxurious options would not be feasible, it would certainly be possible to give tax incentives to businesses that encourage healthy lifestyles amongst their employees. Employers are already independently encouraging such behavior in many states, particularly in California where "since the late 1970s," companies have offered programs to improve fitness "starting with relatively simple things such as on-site gyms or cholesterol screenings (De Bare 2007). Both businesses and the state would benefit from healthier employees that taxed the state and the corporate healthcare system less.

Another important component of the obesity epidemic is that of diet, of course. In 2005, 3/4 of children and adolescents in North Carolina ate less than the recommended minimum of three servings of vegetables on a typical day and 43% ate less than the recommended minimum of two servings of fruit (the Obesity Epidemic in North Carolina, Eat Smart Move More, 2008). Students are not only to blame, sadly -- so are school lunches. Poor children are especially affected by the food quality of our nation's school lunches, and even affluent children make poor choices, often egged on by friends and advertisements specifically targeted to encourage junk food consumption: "The USDA's commodity foods program distributes large quantities of unhealthy "entitlement foods...Every year, the USDA purchases hundreds of millions of dollars worth of pork, beef, and other high-fat, high-cholesterol animal products, primarily as an economic benefit to American agribusiness. In 2005, for example, the USDA allocated close to 60% of food program procurement expenditures to meat, dairy, and egg products, while providing less than 5% to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables"(2008 School Lunch Card, a Report by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Autumn 2008.). Unfortunately, given that more immediate concerns like the economy and the war in Iraq will occupy Congress during its next session, it is unlikely that the school lunch program will see any radical changes in the near future. Leadership must be extended on a state and local level, to attempt to change children's eating expectations as well as their waistlines.

Most of the foods sold in school cafeterias are made into highly processed meats or consist of empty, high-sugar carbohydrates. Some school districts have agreements with fast food companies to allow vending machines distributing soft drinks and processed fast food sold in the school, in exchange for sponsorship of athletics and other school extracurriculars. It is alleged that it is not economically feasible to change the diet of children and feed students on a mass level through the school lunch program. Even if it were possible the states cannot afford wait for the federal government to change. On a micro level, many schools across the nation have been evicting vending machines and fast food companies from their districts, planting their own gardens, and finding alternative sources of food and funding from local suppliers. One of the most notable efforts has been that of Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard Project. Alice Waters, a noted chef in the Berkeley area: "in collaboration with Martin Luther King Junior Middle School, provides urban public school students with a one-acre organic garden and a kitchen classroom" (the Edible Schoolyard Project, 2008). Waters teaches the students to grow their own food and to cook it, and students happily gobble up their own creations in the cafeteria.

Encouraging other chefs in the North Carolina community to engage in similar efforts would be one option to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables, but also make sustainable healthy foods a part of life, particularly for low-income children in urban areas who might never otherwise have the experience of gardening. A similar 'community leadership solution' might be sought in conjunction with the Duke Weight loss center, or even simply with… READ MORE

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