Childhood Obesity Is Causing More Concern

Although the obesity epidemic costs Virginia, Maryland and the District $3 billion annually, localities in the region have few programs designed to help obese children, a group of health directors and other officials were told recently.

Because obesity rates continue to rise despite a billion-dollar diet industry and efforts by schools to promote healthful eating habits, local governments must become more involved, according to doctors and others who spoke at a regional summit on childhood obesity sponsored by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments last week.

"The main message is that it's in crisis mode," said Donald Shell, the deputy director of the Prince George's County Health Department. "We have anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of the adult population classified as obese or overweight, and the numbers are increasing. We have to come up with other measures to attempt to reverse the trend without relying upon private physicians and school systems."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculates obesity by using weight and height to determine the "body mass index," a measurement of body fat. An adult with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight; an adult with a BMI above 30 is considered obese.

A recent survey of local governments in the region found several small programs for obesity prevention -- mostly get-fit or healthful eating programs targeted at grade-schoolers, according to James Bohland, who oversaw the study for Virginia Tech's Institute for Community Health. Many of the programs, started in the past few years, suffer because of lack of funding, full-time personnel and transportation. The study also said that it has been hard communicating with Latino families and other immigrants.

In the Washington area, it's difficult for localities even to get a grasp on the magnitude of the problem, officials said, because most data focus on adults. In Virginia, Maryland and the District, more than half of adults are considered overweight or obese. Scattered numbers for youths are available: In the District, for example, 12 percent of high school students are considered overweight, the study said.

George L. Leventhal (D-At Large), president of the Montgomery County Council, is advocating one simple solution -- that all jurisdictions participate in the federal government's Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which measures drug and alcohol use. That study also requires that children be weighed and measured, a protocol that would yield valuable data for local planners to track obesity rates, he said.

Localities can get involved in a variety of ways, physicians and urban planners said, including expanding pedestrian walkways and bike trails, sponsoring more health and nutrition classes and encouraging families to walk their children to school if possible.

Walter Tejada (D), an Arlington County Board member, said it is in localities' best interests to promote healthy lifestyles, given rising health-care costs. Employers often look at obesity rates in states where they're looking to relocate, he said.

"It's a big deal, and we have to get involved," Tejada said.

He's launching a countywide program called "Fitness Arlington" next year that he hopes will be a selling point to employers eyeing vacant office space in Crystal City. That area will be hard hit with the coming loss of 17,000 defense and contracting jobs recommended by the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

More education and outreach by the schools into hospital and family programs is needed, said Penny E. McConnell, the director of food and nutrition services for the Fairfax County school system. Schools also need to provide healthful breakfasts, make sure that children have adequate time to eat, rethink recess and other physical activity, and limit sugary snacks used as rewards, she said.

The societal pressures that the schools face are huge, McConnell said. She cited a statistic published recently in Time magazine that said that by the time children reach age 2, one in five eat candy every day and that the No. 1 vegetable is the french fry.

"I was shocked," McConnell said. "This is appalling."

Mark Truax, the director of food and nutrition services for the District of Columbia public schools, said that the school system faced similar struggles when it recently replaced candy and soda in its vending machines with water, juice and healthful snacks. Not only did sales decline in the pilot schools, he said, but "underground movements" of children selling soda and candy out of their lockers soon surfaced. Those efforts were fast quashed by school officials.

Physicians and other nutritional experts also said that the other prime challenge is increasing physical activity. Children attend schools where recess and physical education programs have been cut in favor of academics, and they go home to spend much of their time in front of computers or televisions.

Shell said the Howard County schools set a good example in tackling this problem with their "Bodies and Minds in Motion" program, which combated inactivity by scheduling physical activity throughout the school day.