County Gets Grant to Fight Fat
By Kelly Adams, The Columbian Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 9, 2003
Clark County will receive $5.9 million over five years to fight obesity, federal officials announced Thursday. The grant, one of a handful distributed nationwide, targets a health problem that some experts say is as dangerous and costly as smoking.
Clark County has seen the percentage of obese adults jump from 19 percent in 1999 to 25 percent in 2002. The statistics are based on a standard called body mass index.
As the number of obese adults climbs in Clark County so does the incidence of diabetes, strokes and other health risks. Death rates from diabetes and stroke already exceed the state average here.
The Health and Human Services Department's grant targets all of those problems, plus asthma. Four states, a dozen cities and the Intertribal Council of Michigan received funding under the program.
Locally, the grant was awarded to Community Choices 2010, an affiliate of the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce. The group works for a healthier community through collaboration between organizations.
The money will be available over a period of five years, starting Monday with a grant of $306,900. Barbe West, executive director of Choices 2010, said the program will begin with an evaluation of the community's needs. The first year will involve the creation of a community coalition, a process that has started.
The next step will be to either create new initiatives or build on existing programs that address obesity and related health problems. Tobacco- use prevention and control efforts also will be enhanced.
When individuals are not healthy, it affects the community, West said.
"There's a loss in productivity," she added. "The level of energy drops."
Up to 60 percent of adults in the United States are considered overweight or obese, said Dr. Patricia Elmer, an epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland.
"That is just a huge number of people. Our whole community is affected by this," she said.
Extra weight contributes to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, cancer, depression and gall bladder problems, Elmer said.
"It's a pretty long list," she said. "I would say it's as bad as smoking."
Lifestyle changes such as watching calories and increasing physical activity are part of the solution, as are more extreme measures such as gastric bypass surgery, Elmer said.
"We need a lot of options," she said.
In Clark County, those options could include building on existing programs such as the "Passport to Wellness," offered by Southwest Washington Medical Center. The program promotes walking.
Many other programs are likely to follow.
"It doesn't happen with one announcement," West said. "This helps to jump-start this effort. We really can bring about long-term change."