Oregon’s obesity rate increased by 80 percent in the last 15 years. The latest obesity rate released Thursday is a staggering statistic: 25.4 percent of Oregon adults are obese. But Sonia Manhas sees obesity in a simple number: a 20-ounce soda pop. Sugary drinks are just part of the problem of people eating more and exercising less, says Manhas, program manager of Multnomah County Community Wellness and Prevention. Social conditions and consumer trends have changed, Manhas said. Portions are larger and people are driving a lot more instead of walking. It shows up as an epidemic in Oregon and across the country. The annual obesity report by the Trust for Americas Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found adult obesity rates increased in 16 states in the last year. They did not decline anywhere. Colorado did best with a 19.8 percent rate, Mississippi was worst with 34.4 percent. Oregon was rated the 35th most obese state in the country. The slight bit of good news: The percentages seem to be leveling out. This report also looked at state statistics for the last 20 years. Oregons obesity rate increased by 80 percent during that time. There was a clear tipping point in our national weight gain over the last 20 years and we cant afford to ignore the impact obesity has on our health and corresponding health care spending, Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for Americas Health, said in a statement. Growth in Oregons obese population has altered patient care at many medical facilities. Hospitals such as Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside, Providence Portland Medical Center and Mount Hood Medical Center have added higher volumes of bariatric equipment in the form of ceiling lifts, bariatric wheelchairs and larger waiting room seats. Ambulance companies have also noted an increase in obese patients. Marc Burnham, operations manager for the American Medical Response team in the Portland region, estimates they see an average of three to four bariatric patients a day. What causes the drastic jump in obesity? Richard Hamburg, deputy director of the Trust for Americas Health, believes its a combination of factors among them, lack of physical activity in schools, Americas serious dependency on automobiles and limited food choices in impoverished neighborhoods. If a person is growing up in an inner city, they may have less access to healthy foods and may have to drive a couple of miles to get to a food market, said Hamburg. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also lists a persons environment as a major contributor to obesity. Multnomah Countys Manhas has witnessed bad habits gnaw away at health in her own community. She knows the rate in Multnomah County which measures both obese and overweight adults age 18 and over is greater than 50 percent, according to the Oregon Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. One in four 8th- and 11th-graders in the county are overweight or obese, according to the Oregon Healthy Teens Survey. Manhas is looking to help reverse cultural habits. Multnomah County was one of 30 areas awarded a $7.5 million grant by the CDC last year to develop obesity prevention programs. Multnomah Wellness and Prevention works across a number of community settings among them schools, churches, hospitals, and senior centers to educate the community on healthy eating habits. Their efforts include working with school districts to implement school cafeteria reform and promoting physical activity within neighborhoods. And getting rid of the 20-ounce soda pop. Despite the alarming increase in Oregons obese population, Hamburg of the Trust for Americas Health believes Oregon is doing well compared to other states. Its easy to get comfortable when we see our obesity rate is in good standing compared to other states, but its all relative. Were seeing rates that didnt exist 20 years ago, Manhas said. We are facing some major struggles in the years to come.
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