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Community Corner

Missouri Ranks 11th Most Obese State; Local Programs Push Back

A recently released report says Missouri is the 11th most obese state in the country and growing. Health & Fitness writer Dawn Runge highlights some popular methods for bucking the trend.

This month, the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) confirmed what many of us have been observing for years: This country’s current population is fatter than the generation before it. Twenty years ago, no state had more than a 15 percent obesity rate. Now, only Denver has an obesity rate
less than 20 percent, while the majority of states now have more than a quarter of their population described as obese.

Applying to 30 percent of its population, Missouri is the 11th most obese state in the nation. What's worse is that the growth of obesity in Missouri has outpaced other states in recent years; the report, 'F' as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2011, found that Missouri’s obesity rate has risen 80 percent throughout the last 15 years. 

The report also said those with less education, less income or who qualify as an ethnic minorities all had higher obesity rates. As a result, the report found increasing rates of hypertension and diabetes mimicking linked to obesity.

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“Today, the state with the lowest adult obesity rate would have had the highest rate in 1995,” said Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director
of TFAH. “There was a clear tipping point in our national weight gain over the last 20 years, and we can’t afford to ignore the impact obesity has on our health and corresponding health care spending.”

TFAH recommends that communities band together to provide
opportunities for fitness, and to have healthy foods available for lower-income individuals and children.

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In Ballwin and Ellisville, there are gyms and parks abound, and children are often put into sports early. But many times, both parents
work. If not, children are often involved in so many activities, teaching them to make autonomous nutrition choices may fall to the wayside. Children who are shy or not gifted in athletics may pull away from the competition-oriented activities offered in schools.

One organization, the Missouri Foundation for Health, reports on the state of health in Missouri and gives grants around the state to improve access to quality health services and promote obesity prevention. In the Ballwin-Ellisville area, Matt Strumph, Fitness Manager for the City of Ballwin, and Caring Solutions of Greater St. Louis have applied for funding of their programs in the past.

Caring Solutions offers customized "services by design" for developmentally disabled children and adults in the Greater St. Louis area and is based in Ballwin.

Ballwin has two programs that will begin this fall, Ballwin Lose to Win, and Ballwin On the Move. Lose to Win is a weight loss competition
that will run over 10 weeks, with teams of 2 or 4 people. An informational meeting will be held at the Pointe at Ballwin Commons on September first.

On the Move will be family-oriented program to introduce kids and their parents to different fitness activities normally geared for
adults.

“Once a month, we’ll bring an instructor in to do kickboxing, Zumba, yoga, pilates…” Strumph said. “We're getting people used to the idea of doing them together as a family.”

Parents and staff of schools are urged to attend. Strumph said middle-schoolers are tough to target, so anyone who is interested in helping would be great.

Both Ballwin and Ellisville offer memberships to their facilities at competitive prices. The Pointe at Ballwin Commons offers classes,
indoor pool, fields outdoors, playgrounds, a fitness center, spinning room, gymnasium, and personal trainers as part of their membership.

Ellisville has a boot camp held in Bluebird Park, and tennis lessons as well. Trails are widespread and these communities hold city and
state parks in multiples, and they are always free to attend.

In the end, parents are the key to teaching their children healthy habits, even if they don’t have healthy habits at the moment, said
Strumph. The first step parents can take is to work on their own health challenges, especially if they’ve struggled with obesity. 

Once you are firm in your healthy habits, organizations such as
TFAH has ways to get involved in your community.

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