Overweight and obesity: Idaho and beyond

The most recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey found that almost 60 percent of adults in Idaho are either overweight or obese. Overweight is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25-29.9, and obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30 or above (To calculate your own BMI, click here). Evidently, rates of overweight and obesity in adult Idahoians (is that a word?) have skyrocketed since 1990, when 29.5 percent were overweight and 12 percent were obese.

These increasing rates of overweight and obesity among adults in Idaho are definitely a cause for concern. Yet sadly, these high rates not unusual when viewed in a national context. Currently, about 2/3 of all U.S. adults exceed the "healthy" weight range, with 30 percent of U.S. adults meeting the clinical definition of obesity. In addition, the dramatic increase in overweight and obesity rates among adults in Idaho over the past decade is on par with the dramatic increase in these rates nationwide (To see a CDC PowerPoint slideshow demonstrating increases of obesity each year since since 1985, click here. I recommend viewing this presentation because it's quite information and quite shocking).

When 2/3 of the country's population is afflicted with a particular health condition, and when nationwide incidence rates of the disorder increase so dramatically over a relatively short amount of time, clearly the problem is not simply an individual one but a public health one. Yes, overweight and obesity occurs when individuals eats more food than their bodies need. But when these health conditions are afflicting the majority of the American public, there's more to the problem than just individual dietary and food consumption choices. You can't solve the problem simply by telling individuals to eat less. You also have to understand and disentangle the multiple of social, cultural, economic and political factors that have enabled overweight and obesity to flourish to such a large extent.

So what are these assorted social, cultural, economic and political factors? Let's see, where do I even begin? There are many. Moreover, although some of these factors are affecting the nation's population more generally, other factors are more relevant to particular regional, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other types of demographic groups. In an earlier post, I discussed one factor that was at play for inner city residents--lack of access to grocery stores and the healthy foods that such businesses provide. Too often, inner city residents only have access to corner shops that sell junk food because larger grocery stores will not set up shop in inner city neighborhoods. Over the course of the following week or two, I will discuss some of the other factors. Stay tuned.