Vermont Launches Campaign Against Fat With Rising Obesity Rates in the United States, Vermont Legislature is Asking Health Experts to Guide Vermonters Towards a Leaner, Healthier Future

Author: Jon White

Take it easy on the Ben & Jerry's and Cabot Cheese, Vermont.
That's the message that state health officials in Montpelier relayed this summer when announcing that obesity in Vermont is at an all-time high.
Currently, 18 percent of Vermonters are categorically "obese" — a term the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses to classify men and women suffering from a disease where they have an "excessively high amount of body fat in relation to lean body mass." The proportion of obese individuals in the Green Mountain State has risen by 71 percent since 1990.
Moreover, health officials are curious about the geographic distribution of obesity cases. Statistics indicate that six northern Vermont counties, including Addison, have higher levels of obesity than the rest of the state.
These findings, reported in the Rutland Herald, show that Vermont is a long way from its goal of reducing obesity levels in the state to 15 percent. The Herald reported that public health officials in northern Vermont are aware of the increasing problem in that region, while researchers see these statistics as an opportunity to investigate possible links between obesity, personal income, gender and education.
The CDC has already drawn some conclusions on links amongst these factors. Statistically, nearly equal numbers of men and women are obese in the United States.
In terms of education, 26 percent of men and women without a high school degree are obese, compared to only 15 percent of individuals with a college degree or higher.
Conclusive evidence linking obesity to income levels has yet to emerge.
Of paramount concern in the fight against this disease is the staggering rise in obesity among children and young adults. The CDC has found that obesity in 12- to 19-year-olds has more than doubled in 20 years, from 5 percent in 1979, to 14 percent in 1999.
Hannah Magoun, school nurse at Middlebury Union High School, claims that obesity is more of an issue among students than in the past.
According to Magoun, the school has been teaching proper nutrition as part of its health education curriculum for years, but she is concerned that obesity presents a greater societal issue that a mere health education course cannot reverse.
"I think it's not only high school students, but everyone is becoming more sedentary in their ways," explains Magoun.
At Middlebury College, Dr. Ene Piirak, a psychologist in the Center for Counseling and Human Relations, reports that the College has yet to officially examine whether there has been an increase in obesity among students. Nonetheless, Piirak believes that a slight increase in obesity could take place without the Center for Counseling and Human Relations recognizing this rise.
Often, students may feel ashamed and decline to seek help at the Center for a weight problem.
Piirak notes also that while it is "pretty rare" for someone at Middlebury to seek counseling for obesity, the Center does counsel a number of students each year for eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Piirak sees anorexia and obesity as two extremes of the same problem, a problem she calls a "distortion of what is a normal way to eat and what is not."
While the College and Middlebury Union High School teach and counsel young adults in proper eating habits and assist in correcting improper ones, the Vermont Legislature has taken the issue of obesity to a new level.
The Legislature has sought to tackle the increase in obesity across the state by ordering the creation of a new committee to address weight issues in Vermont. The Legislature set aside $100,000 for this committee, recognizing that curtailing obesity has a positive effect on efforts to reduce other health problems.
On a national level, Vermont's incidence of obesity is about average. Colorado boasts the nation's lowest rate of obesity, while Mississippi, where one quarter of adults are diagnosed as obese, has the highest rate.
Vermont's new legislation complements renewed national attention on weight. This month's Runner's World magazine featured an interview with President Bush on his excercise routines.
In his interview, he called on Americans to pursue more active lifestyles in order to fight obesity and associated health risks, such as heart disease and diabetes.