Obesity in the Healthiest State By Skylar Anderson

Allison was my best friend in elementary school. She was shy but a spectacularly considerate person. She struggled with a low self esteem because people made fun of her weight. Despite dieting and exercising regularly, she could not seem to lose weight. Obesity can be genetic: some people just have an incredibly slow metabolism and gain weight easily. One day in gym class we were playing a healthy game of Chinese Freeze Tag when Allison suddenly fell from her frozen temple position and crashed to the floor, unconscious. I watched her fall and immediately ran to her side. As a fourth grader, watching my best friend fall the ground, I assumed she was dead and I broke down and panicked. The good news: Allison was not dead. She, in fact, woke up in the hospital. The bad news: She was diagnosed with diabetes, which restricted her diet and exercise, preventing her from easily losing weight for the rest of her life.

Historically, Colorado has been one of the healthiest states in the Union. It seems that Coloradan's access to the outdoors encourages healthier exercise-full lifestyles. Despite the fact that Colorado is deemed as very healthy, there is still a large population of citizens that are in the zone of obesity. So why is it, exactly, that obesity happens even in the healthiest state? What are some of the health risks of living with obesity? Are any of those health risks eliminated by living in Colorado? The counter argument would say that obesity is a choice. But whether or not obesity is a ‘choice,’ there are still major health risks involved. Those who are in the obese range are highly likely to develop heart disease, diabetes, trouble with pregnancy, and experience premature death: up to ten years. Issues such as fast food consumption, poverty, stress and access to places to be active all contribute to why people remain obese and why Colorado ranks the lowest on the obesity scale.

Miranda Hitti of Health News feels that Colorado has collective cohesiveness as a community concerned with eating and living healthy. So people feel a sense of belonging when joining a community of people living a healthy lifestyle: and this happens commonly in Colorado. If only all communities could be so concerned with eating and living healthy, the obesity rates would be lower everywhere. But despite the fact that Colorado has the lowest amount of people living within the obesity range, the percent of obese people is still existent, and its existence at all suggests a problem. When volunteers helped save animals when the last oil spill happened, they did not stop saving animals just because a few animals were saved: they continued until all animals had been cleaned and set free. Just because the group of people living over the overweight mark is low, does not mean that this is a problem that should be overlooked. Eating an unhealthy diet not only isolates people from belonging to live-healthy communities, it also contributes to obesity and the health risks involved.

Imagine living below the poverty line, and trying to decide whether to go hungry or live off of fast food (because fast food is cheaper than healthy food.) You cannot let your children go hungry, so you turn to fast food. Research shows that those who are living under the poverty line are more likely to either go hungry or spend what money they do have on fast food. If you were to purchase a large Coca Cola (310 calories), a Big Mac (570 calories) and a large French Fry (540 calories) from McDonald’s, you would be taking in about 1420 calories, when the normal person should only take in 2000 calories a day. A combination between excessive caloric intake and the percent of harmful fats in those calories is one factor that can lead to obesity. This can also lead to plaque buildup in arteries, which causes heart attacks. So the next question is, which states have the highest concentration of fast food restaurants per capita, and is Colorado low on the list?

According to Gloria McVeigh, a nutritionist, there are 7.6 fast food restaurants per 100,000 people, compared to 16.5 percent of people in Colorado living over the obese mark. Compared to many of the southern states like Alabama and Mississippi—where there are up to 12 fast food restaurants per 100,000 people, and over 29% of people are obese--Colorado has fewer fast food restaurants per person and fewer overweight people: 16.5%. So therefore, in Colorado the temptation to eat fatty foods is lesser, given that there are fewer fast food restaurants to choose from. But let us not forget that many people turn to fast food because of the affordable prices.

Given that people functioning below the poverty line often turn to fast food because of cheap prices, it makes sense to examine poverty rates in Colorado compared to other states with high percentages of obesity. According to data from the American Community Survey from 2010, Colorado ranked as a state with relatively few residents living in poverty (between 11 and 12.9%), compared to a state with a high level of obesity, such as Mississippi where 16% or more of the total population lives below the poverty level. Colorado once again prevails, as more people live above the poverty line, and can therefore afford to purchase healthy foods. But when 12% of the people are poor, all of these people are left to live off of fast food and other unhealthy foods. These are the people at risk of becoming obese. It is truly a shame that living healthy has to depend so heavily on affordability.

When households struggle to make ends meet, the stress levels skyrocket. So assuming that stress levels are higher when households go through tough financial times, it is clear that states with lower levels of poverty should have lower levels of obesity. Poverty is a feature that remains out of the control of households, and stress, therefore, cannot always be prevented. In this way, obesity could easily be something that a person has no control over. Accessibility to the means to be healthy is often out of the hands of households as well. Gym memberships are costly, where 24 Hour Fitness charges $152 upfront, and $75 a month after that for an all access membership. I know that I certainly cannot afford that gym membership, and in urban environments, it can be unhealthier to exercise on polluted streets than to just stay at home. In Colorado, pollution levels remain low in state parks and other wilderness areas that everyone has access to for free. Since the means to be active is everywhere in Colorado, even those in poverty can easily be active and stay fit.

So let us tackle the problem at the root: accessibility. Poverty prevents the vast majority of people from being able to afford healthy food and gym memberships. So we should advocate for tax reductions for buying healthy food, or require fast food restaurants to offer salads or healthier foods for the same prices. Advocating for making public access gyms would also draw people that could not afford a costly gym membership. When parents eat healthy, then children can eat healthy too. Walking your children to school instead of driving also keeps everyone active. Creating a strong support group for the obese is probably the most important solution. Sadly, bullying and ridicule shattered my friend Allison’s self-esteem, and when she was upset, food was her outlet. To her, food was her safe haven: it would not make fun of her or judge her. So every mean look or remark about someone’s weight can only make the eating worse. Support those who are obese and trying to lose weight. Remind these people how proud you are and that you will support them always. It is not hard to flash someone a smile or a kind remark, so smile away, eat an apple a day, and know that you are making a difference to tackle this issue at the root.