If the state of Arkansas was given a grade for its obesity rates — for both adults and youths — it would be a big, fat “F.”
Arkansas ranks in the top 10 in the nation as far as obesity rates, according to the report “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2012,” which was released last week by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report also states that Arkansas is ranked seventh — tied with Texas — among the highest obesity rates for 10- to 17-year-olds.
In 2011, 30.9 percent of Arkansas adults were obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If the current trend continues, by 2030, the obesity rate in Arkansas could reach 60.6 percent of the population.
“In order to address the childhood-obesity epidemic, it requires a culture change,” said Kelly Spencer, the Cabot School District’s health and wellness coordinator. “The environment must set the child up for success. We believe that through a quality physical-education program, opportunities for after-school recreational programs, healthy role modeling from the district staff, and partnerships with fitness groups in the community, we are laying a foundation for our students to make lifelong healthy choices. It is all about education and exposure.”
Changes in education
As one way to help battle growing obesity rates, the Cabot School District has implemented a SPARK curriculum for kindergarten through the sixth grade. SPARK is a national research-based, public health organization that focuses on countering childhood obesity. The curriculum maximizes student engagement through the use of games.
“Our physical-education classes are not the traditional sports-based classes,” Spencer said. “You won’t see our students waiting in line for a turn to play. What you will see is every student moving in moderate to vigorous physical activities. We expose our students to a wide variety of recreational games with the hope that they find an activity they want to pursue for life.”
The district also has a joint agreement with the Cabot Parks and Recreation Department that allows the schools and the parks department to combine their resources to offer more physical-activity programs.
Staff members at Cabot schools take being examples for their students seriously. In an attempt to create a healthier staff, in 2011, the Cabot School District launched a staff-wellness program.
“We believe our staff has an opportunity to serve as healthy role models for our students,” Spencer said. “We offer free fitness classes — Zumba and body sculpt — each Tuesday and Thursday evening. We also offer competitive sports events for staff. Last year, we offered volleyball, kickball, bowling and staff-wellness Olympic games. This is a great way for our staff to serve as healthy role models for our students.”
The Searcy School District is also making strides to provide a more healthy environment for its students. The district recently received notification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that four of the district’s schools have been named Silver schools as part of the HealthierUS School Challenge. Out of 100,000 public and nonprofit private schools across the nation, McRae Elementary, Sidney Deener Elementary, Westside Elementary and Southwest Middle schools in Searcy were four of 4,078 schools selected as award winners.
“We have gone to whole-wheat breads in our cafeterias,” said Betsy Bailey, school and community coordinator for the Searcy Public Schools. “Also, two of our schools have received the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Grant for the last few years. Under this grant’s guidelines, our students have a daily snack that focuses on fruits and vegetables, and information about these are incorporated into the curriculum.”
Healthier choices
Chassie Sharpmack, a clinical dietitian at White County Medical Center in Searcy, said that
children not being as active as they were in past years is only one of the issues. Another issue is that fast food plays a big part in the obesity problem. The responsibility lies with parents to help their children make healthier choices when it comes to food.
“Parents stay so busy, and we have our kids so busy with activities that we don’t have time to fix healthy meals,” Sharpmack said.
One of the solutions to this problem, she said, is to plan ahead and prepare meals during the weekend that can be consumed during the week. But what about those finicky children who refuse to eat broccoli or carrots?
“Trick them,” Sharpmack said with a laugh. “Most kids love chips, so get whole-grain Pringles or the all-natural Cheetos — they’re lower in fat. Also, individual bags of rice cakes are good. Kids like things that are packaged individually.”
Other healthy snack ideas she suggested are yogurt tubes, small organic apples, little bags of nuts, and natural peanut butter with whole-grain crackers.
“There are also tricks for meals,” she said. “Make mac and cheese — most kids love that — and mix mashed cauliflower in it, and you can hide things in pizza, too. Put pureed carrots in the tomato sauce.”
Although Sharpmack said she sees more adults than children who are obese, she said stopping the obesity trend can begin with children and being a good example for them.
“If you’re eating it, they’ll watch you,” she said, so it’s important to choose healthy foods. “Whether you like it or not, act like you do, because they’re watching you.”
She also encourages parents to get their children involved with meal preparation or even gardening.
“If they’re involved in making it, they’ll be more likely to eat it,” she said. “And if you grow something, like a little tomato plant, and they’ve watered it every day, they’re more likely to eat it.”
Although diet is a major component to one’s health, activity is also important.
“Go on a family bike ride, or walks. Just get outside,” Sharpmack said.
Health issues
There are many health issues that are triggered by obesity. The Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study showed that by 2030, obesity-related health care costs in Arkansas could rise by more than 9.6 percent.
The number of Arkansans who could be spared from developing new cases of obesity-related diseases include Type 2 diabetes, 80,530; coronary heart disease and stroke, 67,876; hypertension, 60,434; arthritis, 36,343; and obesity-related cancer, 5,347.
“We know a lot more about how to prevent obesity than we did 10 years ago,” Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America’s Health, said in a press release. “This report also outlines how policies like increasing physical activity time in schools and
making fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable can help make healthier choices easier. Small changes can add up to a big difference.”
The study also shows that if body-mass index numbers were lowered by 5 percent, Arkansas could save 7.6 percent in health care costs, which could total a savings of $6,054,000,000 by 2030.
“There are multiple health risks to being obese,” Dr. Alan Storeygard, a physician at Jacksonville Medical Clinic, said in an email.
In the email, Storeygard said the following are the most common health issues he sees:
• Premature development of high blood pressure, or hypertension, which is one of the three biggest risk factors of heart disease;
• Premature development of diabetes, which is another risk factor for heart disease and can cause kidney failure, loss of vision and premature death; and
• Premature development of weight-dependent arthritis, which is arthritis involving the lower back, hips, knees, ankles and feet.
“The result of [weight-dependent arthritis] is a more frequent need for prescription arthritis medications, many of which have potential side effects, and ultimately premature loss of independence and the ability to get around without assistive devices,” Storeygard said. “There are no studies about this, but what I see is that most people above 200 pounds will develop all three of these problems much sooner than they would have if they weighed less than 200 pounds. I write prescriptions for hypertension, diabetes and weight-dependent arthritis every day, and it is clear to me that this is true at least in my practice. I encourage my patients to try to stay under 200 pounds, if possible, for these reasons.”
Making a change
Ways to combat obesity are to first recognize the risks and commit to doing something about delaying or preventing these problems,
Storeygard said. Second is to get a plan that makes sense, long term, to do something about it, he said.
“Weight control for a lifetime is not a sprint; it’s a marathon,” he said in the email. “It involves education about how much calories foods and beverages have and how much exercise can contribute. What I commonly see is that many people think that the most effective way to lose weight is to exercise it off. Exercise is great, and I recommend it, but in my opinion, the most effective way to control weight is to focus more on being aware of how many calories you are eating and drinking daily.”
He said that an average adult who is not gaining weight and not losing weight and is active, eats and drinks about 2,000 calories a day and burns off that much.
One pound of fat is equal to about 3,500 calories, which is nearly two days’ worth of food, he said.
“In my experience, only about 10 percent of people know this. Most people underestimate this, thinking a pound of fat is only equal to about 500 calories,” he said.
“One mile of walking or running burns off only about 100 calories. In my experience, only about 10 percent of people know this. Most people overestimate this, thinking that a mile of walking or running will burn off about 500 calories. … If one just wants to exercise weight off, you have to walk an extra 35 miles to burn off 1 pound. Most people walk 3 mph. Thirty-five miles would take an extra 12 hours to complete: a realistic number if one wants to start running 10 to 20 miles a week or spend a lot of time on a treadmill. The best approach, in my opinion, is a combination of calorie-restriction diet and exercise, which is something everyone has heard, but few are excited about. It’s not a short-term plan, but a lifestyle change.”
Storeygard said that to reduce caloric intake, focus on cutting back on foods and drinks that are high in carbohydrates, such as sugars, breads, potatoes, rice and pasta.
“Stored fat is converted back into carbohydrate if one limits carbohydrates,” he said in the email. “The body converts protein back into carbohydrates to burn off only after fat stores are depleted. … One common reason I see why attempts at losing weight fail is that many people don’t drink enough low-calorie drinks (water or calorie-free drinks) when they are trying to lose weight.
When one converts stored fat back into sugar to burn, the body produces a side product called ketones, he said. This chemical gets into the blood stream and makes a person feel hungry and sluggish. A person can get rid of the ketones in one of two ways: eat more food and calories — but that is what you are trying not to do — and burn them off, or drink additional nonsugared fluids to wash them out of the bloodstream.
To see the full “F as in Fat” report with state rankings in all categories, visit healthyamericans.org or rwjf.org.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.