The Ranger Online

Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: Pulse

Media Credit: American Society of Bariatric Physicians

More than one in four Texas adults are obese.

According to the fourth annual report from Trust for America's Health, Texas has the 12th-highest rate of adult obesity at 26.3 percent.

"F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America" found that obesity rates rose in 31 states last year, and 22 states had an increase in obesity for the second year in a row.

No state had a decrease in adult obesity.

"I think Texas is following the national norms," Paula Daggett, R.N., coordinator of the college health center, said.

The obesity rate in Texas has remained unchanged since last year; however, it is still one of 19 states that exceeds 25 percent.

Seven of the 10 states with the highest rates of adult obesity were in the South, including Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas.

The other three include West Virginia, Indiana and Michigan.

The main health risks that come with obesity are diabetes and heart disease, Daggett said.

Other health risks include increased hypertension, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems and endometrial, breast or colon cancers.

Another health risk that may come with obesity and diabetes is dyslipidemia, or disordered lipids in the blood.

In education, Texas is one of 17 states that require school lunches, breakfasts and snacks to meet higher nutritional standards than the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires.

Students need to eat healthy, rest and exercise, Daggett said.

Texas is also one of 22 states that have set nutritional standards for foods sold in vending machines, a la carte, school stores and bake sales. Texas is one of 26 states that limit when and where these foods may be sold on school property beyond federal requirements.

Even with these limitations, Texas holds the sixth-highest rate of overweight youths between ages 10-17 at 19.7 percent.

"Nutrition education needs to be started at a younger age at elementary school and at home with the family," Daggett said. "They need to reinforce better eating habits, and portion control is vital."

One health precaution Texas does not take is to screen students' body mass index (BMI), or fitness status, and confidentially provide that information to parents or guardians.

Only 16 states provide this information.

Daggett said that nutrition needs to be taught not only at school, but at home.

"It can't be started to be taught in high school or college," she said. "Old habits are hard to break, but they can be changed."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the national health objectives for the year 2010 is to reduce the rate of obesity among adults to less than 15 percent.

Daggett believes this feat can be done.

"I would hate to say no," she said. "Because then we'll be giving up. I don't believe in giving up. If one way doesn't work, then we'll find another way to do it."

The report on obesity rates in all states can be found at
http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2007/.

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