Extra Pounds Weigh On County
By Don Jenkins, The Columbian Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
A report released Tuesday cites expanding waistlines as Clark County's "most alarming" health trend.
"This is not a concern about cosmetics. This is a concern about chronic disease," said county health director Kay Koontz.
Some 62 percent of the county's adults are overweight, with one- quarter heavy enough to qualify as obese, according to 2002 health department figures included in a report compiled by Community Choices 2010, a nonprofit organization.
In 1996, 46 percent were overweight or obese.
"We're not moving enough, and our food choices are not good," Koontz said.
Community Choices presented its report at the Clark County Family YMCA in Vancouver. The setting was a "subtle message," said the organization's executive director, Barbe West.
She asked the 60 people in attendance to stand up and toss around flying discs.
"Start moving. We need some more moving around," said West, as discs started flying and occasionally bouncing off heads.
Previous report cards on the community's physical, social and economic health were compiled in 1994, 1997 and 2000. The first report card didn't measure obesity.
"It was not on our radar screen," said former county health director Tom Milne, now a public health consultant in Portland. "All you have to do is look around to see there is an issue."
The trend toward a heavier population prompted Community Choices to apply and receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat fat.
The nonprofit will receive $300,000 in the first year, and the grant could eventually be as much as $6 million over five years, West said. The group will campaign to make citizens more aware of the dangers of being overweight.
"We're not advertising diet programs. We're not going to advertise gymnasiums," West said. "It will be simple messages like increasing physical activity, awareness of what you're eating, and eating in smaller portions."
Organizers of Tuesday's gathering did their best to get people on the right track.
The buffet table featured fruits, vegetables and bottled water. Miss Clark County, Rachel Kirschenmann, challenged everyone to eat better and walk more.
"We're so lucky to live here because it is so beautiful, and we shouldn't take it for granted. We should get out there and take steps," she said.
Adults aren't the only ones who need to move.
A survey of Clark County eighth-graders found 25 percent were overweight or in danger of becoming overweight, West said.
The finding was not included in the 32-page report card because it was the first year weight figures have been collected from schoolchildren, she said.
Statewide, 59 percent of adults weighed too much in 2002, up from 50 percent in 1996, according to the report.
Supersized meals, the slowing metabolism of aging baby boomers, and diets for busy people that are high in fat as well as convenience could all be to blame, Koontz said.
Other findings in the report include:
* Some 16 percent of county residents received regular medical treatment at urgent care centers in 2002. In 1999, the number was 3 percent. During the same period, the percentage of adults with health insurance dropped from 94 percent to 89 percent.
* Fewer adults smoke: 20 percent in 2002, compared to 26 percent in 1999.
* Teenage pregnancy has declined by 25 percent since 2000.
* Only 47 percent of the county's restaurants were smoke-free in 2000. The percentage jumped to 70 percent two years later.
* The percentage of adults with a four-year degree increased from 17 percent in 1990 to 22 percent in 2000. The county continues to lag behind statewide (28 percent) and national (24 percent) figures.
* The rate of violent crime has decreased, but domestic violence rates have increased slightly.
Did you know?
70 percent of Clark County's restaurants were smoke-free in 2002.
42 percent of county residents volunteered three or more times a year.
15 percent of county residents have five or more drinks on at least one occasion a month.