Title: A study of the effects of Oregons obesity epidemic on Salems primary school students
1A study of the effects of Oregons obesity
epidemic on Salems primary school students
2Overview
- This presentation will attempt to address the
following questions - How serious is the obesity epidemic in America
today? - How does childhood obesity in Oregon compare to
national averages? - What are the primary causes of this epidemic and
what is being done to combat it? - What did I see in my experiences at the Bush
school in terms of evidence of this epidemic or
in terms of evidence of an attempt to combat it?
3General information about obesity in America
- Nearly two out of every three Americans are
overweight or obese. - One out of every eight deaths in America is
caused by an illness directly related to being
obese or overweight Primarily diabetes heart
disease asthma hypertension and joint damage.
This comes out to around 300000 deaths per year. - A recent study showed that people considered to
be obese use 39 more health care resources and
100 more pharmaceuticals than those who are not
obese. - This year well over 100 billion dollars in health
care spending will go towards treating ailments
directly related to obesity. - Obesity is more prevalent in men. It is
significantly more prevalent in Mexican and
African Americans. It is significantly more
prevalent in lowincome families and. It is twice
as prevalent in high school drop outs than in
college graduates.
4Health problems associated with obesity
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Asthma
- Sleep apnea
- Hyper tension
- Mental health issues related to social stigma
associated with obesity and overweight. - Gall bladder disease
- Osteoarthritis
5Correlations between adult and childhood obesity
- Heredity has a significant influence on obesity
regional fat distribution and response to
overfeeding. - Children of obese parents are more likely to
adopt behavior that encourages obesity. - If a child has an obese parent his or her risk
of becoming obese doubles.
6Childhood obesity in America
- Between 1963 and 2002 the percentage of obese
children in America rose from 4.2 to 15.8 - Obesity rates are significantly higher for
children from lowincome families because eating
energydense highly palatable refined foods is
cheaper per calorie consumed than buying fish and
fresh fruits and vegetables
7Childhood obesity in America
- Childhood and adolescent obesity has been proven
to strongly influence adult obesity. In fact
about 80 percent of obese adolescent will become
obese adults. - This is a serious problem because in addition to
the physical health problems related to obesity
obese children are more likely to suffer from low
self esteem and there have been studies that
revealed a clear correlation between obesity and
poor academic performance. It has also been
proven that obese or overweight people are less
likely to get hired for jobs later on in life.
8Obesity in Oregon
- Oregon has recently been labeled the fattest
state west of the Rockies. by the Portland
Tribune. - 22 of adults in Oregon are obese and 60 are
overweight. - Between 1990 and 2002 the obesity rate for
Oregon adults increased by a staggering 86
percent.
9Obesity in Oregon
- In Fact while in 1991 Oregons obesity rate was
a respectable .8 below the national average by
2000 Oregon that number had jumped to 21. This
means that while obesity in America was rising at
.78 a year obesity in Oregon was rising at 9.8
per year. This also means that although in 2000
Oregon had the 15th highest obesity percentage in
the nation it had the 5th highest obesity growth
rate during the period from 19912000.
10Childhood obesity in Oregon
- Oregon has a disproportionately high childhood
obesity rate According to one study Oregon has
the 32nd highest adult obesity rate in the
country but the 7th highest overweight level for
lowincome children. - According to another study 31 of lowincome
children between 2 and 5 years of age in Oregon
are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight
. - Only 18 states limit the availability of
competitive food in schools beyond federal
requirements Oregon is not one of them.
11Kill your TV
- Today the average American child spends 900 hours
per year in school and 1023 hours per year in
front of a TV. - Children in America watch approximately 4 hours
of TV a day. TV has largely replaced physical
activity reading and socializing. - While watching TV childrens metabolism slows
down significantly. - While watching TV children are significantly
more likely to be snacking. - While watching TV children are constantly
bombarded by advertising for unhealthy foods.
12Other causes of childhood obesity
- Children are exposed to unhealthy foods to a much
greater degree Many public high schools now have
lucrative deals with fast food companies that
allow the companies to set up franchises inside
the schools. - Funding for Physical Education has been
drastically cut in the last few decades. In fact
in some states Oklahoma and South Dakota there
are no physical education requirements for
primary and secondary schools. - Change in family structure It is now quite
common for both parents to work full time and
often parents simply dont have the time to make
home cooked meals on a regular basis. - Refusal to recognize problem 8 of parents with
obese children actually think that their child is
underweight.
13What is being done?
- CDC and US Department of Health launched the VERB
campaign to encourage tweens people aged 913
to be physically active every day. - This campaign aims to make regular physical
activity seem cool and is unique because it
uses paid advertising and marketing strategies.
14What is being done?
- In 2004 the childhood obesity reduction act was
introduced by Oregon senator Ron Wyden. This act
aims to provide a website to help parents and
teachers learn about different successful
exercise and nutrition programs. It would also
provide funding for these successful programs
focusing on areas of the country with high rates
of obesity and overweight. - 17 states and DC have enacted snack and soda
taxes in an attempt to discourage the
consumption of food low in nutrients - Salem Hospital has recently opened a Salem
chapter of Committed to Kids a national
weightmanagement program that teaches habits of
healthy living to obese children and their
parents. - Oregon legislators are developing bills for the
2005 session that would mandate daily physical
education in kindergarten through eighth grade
ban vending machines require reporting of
students obesity status and apply tougher
nutrition standards to food in cafeterias. A
physical education bill would mandate up to 225
minutes a week in middle schools with at least
half in moderate to vigorous physical activity.
Thats roughly twice as much as what most schools
provide.
15What is being done?
- Health Promotion and chronic disease prevention
program - Walk to school encourages kids to walk and bike
to school. - 5 a day Encourages Oregonians to increase
vegetable and fruit servings to 59 a day. - Safe routes to school Encourages Walk to School
program by establishing safe routes for kids to
take to school. - TV Turnoff program Designed to encourage
Americans to watch less TV and spend more time
exercising reading and bonding with family
members.
16What is being done?
- In 2003 the Oregon Health and Sciences
University sponsored a town hall style meeting
for Oregonians to discuss solutions to Oregons
skyrocketing rates of obesity and overweight. - In 2004 the Oregon Medical Association adopted a
policy on addressing the obesity epidemic. The
policy aims to increase public awareness or the
epidemic and the health problems associated with
it educate the public in treating a preventing
the epidemic encourage doctors to pay more
attention to obesity and overweight and
encourage programs aimed at increasing physical
activity.
17My experiences
- The Bush school is a public elementary school
located in downtown Salem. - I have spent most of my time mentoring on
particular 4th grade student but have also
helped out in other classrooms. - 3 factors that could lead one to reasonably
assume that obesity rates might be higher than
average its in Oregon children are generally
from lowincome families and there is a
relatively high percentage of Mexican American
students a group who has been demonstrated to be
significantly more at risk.
18My experiences
- Since the national childhood obesity rate should
be just over 16 by now and since childhood
obesity in Oregon has been significantly higher
than the national average I would have figured
based purely on my research that I could
reasonably expect the percentage of obese or
overweight children to be somewhere between 17
19 - However in my time spent in the afterschool
BOOST program with three different classes of
about 12 children each I only noticed 5 children
that seemed to be significantly overweight or
roughly 13.
19My experiences
- Reasons for children in BOOST program to have
lower than expected rates of obesity or
overweight - The BOOST program provides children with snacks
that seem to be relatively healthy often
vegetables or fruit or crackers and juice. - The BOOST program encourages physical activity by
having 30 minutes of mandatory outside time for
every 2 hour session during which literally
every child that I observed was participating in
some kind of athletic activity. - The BOOST program is conducted during hours when
the majority of American children are watching TV
and snacking immediately after school 35 PM.