More than half of Ohioans could be obese by 2030

The annual report for the first time looked at the potential future impact of America’s obesity epidemic, as well as policy changes that could help Americans eat better and exercise more.

“The track that we’re on is leading us down a path toward even worse health and significantly higher health-care costs, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America’s Health.

The U.S. can make major steps toward a healthier weight by implementing policy changes that improve the nutritional value of food served in public schools, make fruits and vegetables more affordable and increase the amount of physical activity in schools, he said.

“We need to invest in obesity prevention in a way that matches the severity of the problem,” he said. “Given the toll that obesity takes on the health of the nation, we can’t afford not to.”

In 2011, just under 30 percent of Ohio adults were obese, which tied the state for 13th-fattest in the U.S. Health-care costs related to the state’s weight problem totaled almost $21.2 billion. Mississippi has the highest percentage of obese adults; Colorado has the lowest. By 2030, if current trends continue, more than 44 percent of adults nationally could be obese.

Nationally, about 35 percent of American adults are obese, and obesity-related diseases cost an estimated $147 billion to $210 billion per year. If obesity rates continue to increase, cost for treating related illnesses could jump between $48 billion and $66 billion per year between now and 2030, according to the report.

Local health-care providers who deal with the consequences of obesity every day say they think policy changes could help blunt the growth of obesity.

“We all tend to try to make good choices, but many times we don’t. It’s hard to legislate and eliminate a lot of things, but I think if good choices are there and easy to choose, then more people will make them,” said Dr. David Bruce, a weight-loss surgeon in the Kettering Health Network’s Dayton Bariatric Surgery Center. “Certainly in the area of physical activity, we’ve kind of fallen behind and fallen down. I just remember from my own childhood, being out all day and all weekend, and now a lot of kids sit in front of a computer or a screen all day. I see no problem with requiring physical activity. I think it would help.”

Americans tend to blame individuals for obesity, but public policy can be effective in combating it, said Dr. Mukul Chandra, a cardiologist at Miami Valley Hospital and medical director of Premier Health Partners’ Heart Works. In the case of tobacco use, limiting public places where people can smoke and raising taxes on tobacco products has helped reduce the number of smokers in the U.S., he said.

He cited recent research from the Institute of Medicine on policy changes. “More and more the research shows, if you create the environment for healthier lifestyles, that will help people reach their goals,” he said.

Talking to patients about their risks helps, he said. “That conversation needs to happen, but at the same time, that patient should have access to an affordable gym in their neighborhood. He should have access to quality nutritional information,” Chandra said.

“Individual responsibility follows, I think, more the social initiatives, which makes people think more about healthy initiatives,” he said. “If you don’t have the messages out in the society, you don’t think about it.”

Obesity contributes to a number of diseases. Without change, Ohio obesity could contribute to increases in diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers by 2030, including: