Oregon Public Broadcasting

Nearly a quarter of adult Oregonians are obese.  Close to two-thirds are overweight.  These facts were behind the creation of the state’s first task force to deal with -- and prevent -- obesity. 

The task force just held its first meeting Monday.  Pete Springer was there and filed this report.

When you mention obesity, many people wonder if they’re obese. 

So let’s start with that.  For a woman five-feet-four inches tall, being more than thirty pounds overweight can mean you are obese.

But what's overweight?  We’re all different, so there’s no one-size fits all definition unless you get into body mass index, which can be confusing.

What the experts do agree on though is that obesity is a serious public health issue not just in Oregon, but across the nation.

Karen Girard is with the Oregon Public Health Division.

Karen Girard: “Obesity is linked to many serious health concerns, like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.  And only tobacco kills more Oregonians every year.”

Girard says 75 cents of every health care dollar in the state is spent on obesity related issues. 

Lowering that cost, and improving the health of Oregonians is what the obesity task force is trying to address. 

Dr. Bruce Goldberg is the director of the Oregon Department of Human Services and chairs the taskforce.

Bruce Goldberg: “We’re likely to see the first generation of children who will live a shorter lifespan than their parents because of the growing epidemic of obesity in our country.”

Goldberg says the problem has become an epidemic.  Obesity-related type 2 diabetes is on the rise in Oregon. That alone costs a whopping one-point-four billion dollars a year to treat.

Goldberg says the state must confront this issue.

Bruce Goldberg: “If we don’t, this is going to drive healthcare costs to the point that we bankrupt ourselves as a state.  It’s going to take lives prematurely. "

The task force was created in legislation introduced by State Senator Margaret Carter. She says one thing the state should be talking about is funding and mandating physical education in public schools.

Margaret Carter: “When you look at the escalating costs in healthcare, we might be saving ourselves some money by not having P.E., but we are spending more money on the healthcare side for not having P.E.”

But dealing with obesity is anything but simple, says Dr. Jonathan Purnell.  He says, “eat less, exercise more”  only goes so far. Purnell works at OHSU’s obesity clinic and serves on the taskforce.

Jonathan Purnell: “Once obesity has expressed itself, every lifestyle intervention, that includes diets that try to impose a caloric restriction, can lead to short term weight loss, but then there’s a rebound effect.  And most people tend to think that’s due to falling off the wagon so to speak.”

It’s not, says Purnell.  The human body is just extremely efficient at storing fat and it tends to ‘defend’ that fat from efforts to get rid of it.

Jonathan Purnell: “So that’s why prevention is so much more important than the actual treatment from a society stand point.”

Purnell says one challenge for the task force is how it will influence personal decisions, like what food people eat.  Eating healthy can be expensive.

Jonathan Purnell: “You run into issues that are -- in a big level -- economic.  How much can you pay for food?  It costs 99-cents to get a big fun meal at a fast food restaurant and you might get one bell pepper, a vegetable, at a grocery store.”

Another challenge faced by the task force will be to convince the state legislature that long-term funding is needed to help Oregonians slim down. 

Purnell says obesity is not a crisis that will be solved with one-time funding from the state’s biannual budget.

In fact, he says it will likely take an entire generation of work at the state level before obesity rates decline.

This work will need to include how we design communities and office buildings, says DHS director Bruce Goldberg.

Bruce Goldberg: “This isn’t necessarily about how we mandate or intrude in peoples lives.  It’s how we can as a society, promote the kind of healthy choices that will lead to better public policy.”

The state task force has two more meetings scheduled next month.

It's already issued a draft plan on reducing obesity and will introduce a bill for the 2009 legislature to consider.