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Fit kids, fit communities
Through education and perspiration, OU-COM tackles the
intricacies of childhood obesity
By Mary Reed
“As a doctor, I often see people with complaints that are a
result of an overall unhealthy lifestyle,” Wapner says. In
his Athens and Belpre, Ohio, practices, Wapner gets frequent
referrals of overweight and obese children at risk for
diabetes. As someone passionate about nutrition and
exercise, Wapner jumped at the opportunity to more actively
engage families. “We know that just hearing a doctor say,
eat right and exercise,’ doesn’t work.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
obesity rates for children 12-19 rose from five percent
between 1976 and 1980 to 17.4 percent by 2003-2004. For
children 6-11, that figure went from 6.5 percent to 18.8
percent in the same time. Although recent figures show rates
leveling off, childhood obesity is still an epidemic. And
according to Thomson Medstat research, national childhood
obesity costs about $11 billion for insured children and $3
billion for those with Medicaid.
To assess the local situation, Karen Montgomery-Reagan, D.O.,
F.A.C.O.P., visited 11 Athens County elementary schools
between May 2005 and May 2006 to measure the body mass index
(weight divided by height) of 1,600 children 6-12. Her
study, funded by the Centers for Osteopathic Research and
Education (CORE), provides a baseline for local childhood
weight studies.
Children at or above the 95th percentile of weight for their
age and height are considered obese. Those at or above the
85th percentile are considered overweight. Only three of the
11 schools had obesity rates lower than the national
average; not one had lower overweight rates. To take an
extreme example, at Federal Hocking Elementary School, 30.7
percent of students are obese. The national average is 19.4
percent.
With obesity comes higher risk for type 2 diabetes.
According to the Appalachian Rural Health Institute, 11.3
percent of adults and children in ARHI’s Southeastern Ohio
coverage area have diabetes. Compare that to the Ohio rate,
7.8 percent, and the national rate, 7.2 percent.
What explains the dramatic rise in obesity, especially in
Appalachian Ohio? Wapner lists a few causes: lack of
ball fields, playgrounds and other safe places for kids to
play, car-centered transportation, crop subsidies that
encourage high-fructose corn syrup, sedentary lifestyles,
fast food … the list goes on.
Wapner says his research and his practice inform his
pediatrics lectures to OU-COM students. “I teach a lot more
about screening for weight-related issues and nutritional
concerns, mostly based on what I have seen,” he says.
Finding What Works – And What Doesn’t
Results from last year’s inaugural Take Action program were
promising: fitness levels (measured by exercise tests)
increased in all participants, waist circumference decreased
in adolescents and triglycerides (a type of fat in the
blood) decreased in adults.
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