Svelte Colorado is loosening its belt

What's the skinny? Obesity rate doubles, yet state still leanest

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

June 13, 2003

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One in seven Colorado adults is obese, a doubling of the obesity rate in 11 years, a new state survey indicates.

But despite the proliferation of poundage, Colorado remains the leanest state in the nation, said Douglas Benevento, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Mississippi has the highest obesity rate, with 27 percent of its adults in that category.

The rise in obesity is blamed on too much food, too little exercise, a decline in manual labor and easy access to cars.

Benevento said that obese adults are 1 ½ to two times more likely to die prematurely than thin people.

Obesity is linked to heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, arthritis, asthma, sleep apnea, depression and at least four cancers: breast, prostate, colon and endometrial, he said.

Some 4,500 Coloradans die of obesity-related illnesses each year, said health department Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ned Calonge.

Benevento said obesity costs Colorado $500 million a year. "The health costs associated with obesity exceed those associated with tobacco use."

Colorado's poorest residents are most likely to be obese. Among those with household incomes of less than $25,000 a year, one in five is obese.

One in nine adults in households earning more than $50,000 a year is obese.

Obesity is defined as a body-mass index of more than 30. People can calculate their own BMI by multiplying weight in pounds by 704, then dividing that number by height in inches twice. For example, a 6-foot-tall (72-inch) person who weighs 200 pounds would have a BMI of 27, which is overweight but not obese.

The health department's Health Statistics Section surveys 2,000 adults every year. The latest survey found that 14.9 percent of Colorado adults - 450,000 - are obese. In 1990, the rate was 6.9 percent.

The eastern plains have the highest rate of obesity - 18 percent - while the ski-resort counties of Eagle, Garfield, Lake, Pitkin and Summit average a 7.5 percent obesity rate.

In the survey, one in six obese adults reported fair or poor health. Among the non-obese, about one in nine described their health that way.

Obesity doesn't appear to increase mental-health problems. According to the survey, 37 percent of the obese and 35 percent of the non-obese reported having one or more bad mental-health days in the past month.

The middle-aged are most likely to be obese. More than one in six Coloradans between 45 and 54 is obese; just one in 20 adults younger than 25 is. One in seven seniors is obese.

The non-obese tend to eat fruits and vegetables more regularly and exercise more, although 22 percent of those in the obese range reported exercising at least three days a week. Nineteen percent of the obese said they eat at least five servings of fruits or vegetables a day.

Calonge said that while regular exercise and a healthy diet are crucial, "Diets, as usually defined, are not effective in long-term weight loss." Instead, permanent, sustainable changes in eating habits are required. If the weight is taken off slowly and steadily, a 10 percent drop in weight eliminates many of the health problems.

The ballooning of America came during the 1990s and the turn of the millennium, when low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets became popular.

That has prompted some Atkins Diet adherents to say high-carbohydrate diets were all wrong, that diets high in fat that more completely quench the appetite are better.

A recent study indicated that people on high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets lost more weight than those on low-fat, high-carb diets. Additionally, those on the high-fat diet had more favorable cholesterol levels.

The consensus, though, is that it's the extra food one eats off any diet - against the advice of dietitians - that balloons the belly and fattens the calves.