Contributed by Jamie Aranoff
OSWEGO, NY – Oswego County has the highest rate of childhood obesity in New York State and the adult obesity trends are higher county wide than state wide, according to the health department.
“In Oswego, 33.8 percent of adults are overweight or obese, compared to the New York state average of 24.6 percent,” said Senior Public Health Educator Diane Oldenburg.
According to the New York Sate Department of Health, the obesity is on the rise, as percentages are increasing in adults and tripling over the past three decades.
The way in which doctors are able to measure obesity is through a calculation known as the Body Mass Index, commonly referred to as BMI.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms, by height squared, [weight (kg)/height (m)^2].
For adults, the CDC said that being overweight corresponds to a BMI ranging from 25.0 to 29.9, and obesity is any BMI above 30.
Oldenburg noted that the numbers for adults with a BMI of 30.0 or higher were 33.8 percent in Oswego and 24.6 percent overall in New York State, “which is very unusual.”
In addition, New York State reported that as of January 2017, a third of children in New York State are obese or overweight.
Obesity is a vehicle for a host of other health related issues.
The New York State Department of Health lists several complications related to overweight and obese lifestyles.
Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol; stroke, cancer, asthma and osteoarthritis are all commonly associated with obesity.
For the third of New York that suffers from obesity, there are government regulated and local programs to help patients reduce their BMI and risk of health complications.
The obesity crisis in New York is quantified, as an epidemic, as reported by the health department, as a result there must be a change in behavior, as well as access to affordable healthy food.
In a county where obesity is as prevalent such as Oswego there are many resources available to help those suffering from the epidemic.
“Activity is the first step toward reducing obesity and as a result we are open 24/7,” said Zach Daniels of Stability Fitness, an Oswego gym that offers personal training as well as nutrition advice for clients. “We provide nutrition and diet advice, what many people don’t understand is that they’re not eating enough or not eating enough of the right foods.”
In addition to the gym, another local option to reduce weight and related complications is to revert to a change in eating.
A large part of the epidemic is the ease of fast food, according to Peggy Sherman, a patient advocate at Riverview Wellness Center, Oswego.
Sherman spoke on the fact that people need guidance when it comes to healthy eating.
“They’ve lost the ability to cook for themselves,” she said.
To help its clients, the Riverview Wellness Center offers suggestions and meal plans and even recipe books to help promote healthier eating.
For New York State, as well as Oswego the obesity epidemic is only getting worse.
The professionals at Riverview Wellness Center said they have seen a general increasing trend of overweight in the county in the past five years.
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Well it is no wonder when a proportionately large number of these people are also on welfare. They do not buy healthy food. It is mostly sugary foods, junk food, and soda. You might occasionally see them splurge on something even normal hard-working Americans typically can’t afford like big steaks and lobster. Couple this with chronic unemployment and it is little wonder any of these people are still alive. They are all heart attacks waiting to happen. Perhaps if there was a national push to reform welfare benefits to mandate Only certain fights of food could be purchased with snap benefits. If that were the case, you would probably see a big turnaround in this particular statistic.