obesity

In the days of this troubling economy, state governments have to do anything they can to make their budgets work. In NY state's most recent efforts, they've decided to collect from their, er, largest demographic: fat people! more The state has decided to start taxing soda by the ounce, an effort they hope will both reduce consumption of soda, and increase revenues. The proposed tax is one cent per once, which doesn't really sound like much, but apparently New York drinks somewhere around one hundred billion ounces of soda a year, which is enough to fund some pretty significant projects throughout the state. What's next, a cupcake tax?! [NY Daily News]

We all know that obesity is bad for you—bad enough, apparently, that Gov. David Paterson has decided to spend his waning days in office as your personal trainer. The fight to institute a state-wide sales tax on soda had been brought to Morningside Heights—and the interwebs!more According to State Health Commissioner Richard Daines:

Surprise! Being obese is bad for you. Maybe even worse than smoking, say Columbia researcher Dr. Haomiao Jia of the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and Dr. Erica Lubetkin of City College. And college isn't helping. According to Adrienne Wald, a Ph.D. candidate at Teachers College, "students won't live long enough to use their $100,000 education." It's around $200K, but still. Important, earth-shattering results after the jump.more

A recent study shows that obesity is more detrimental than smoking to Americans' quality of life. In the study, published in the "American Journal of Preventative Medicine" in January, Dr. Haomiao Jia, a biostatistics researcher of the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and Dr. Erica Lubetkin of City College showed that obesity is overtaking smoking as a national health problem. Results show that the average number of quality-adjusted life-years lost on average per adult due to obesity has increased by 127 percent from 1993 to 2008, and had surpassed that of smoking in 2008. "Smoking will kill you faster in terms of a mortality perspective, but obesity is associated with all kinds of problems like diabetes, osteoarthritis, hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and greater susceptibility to stroke, heart attack, disability, depression and cancer," Lubetkin said. She added that these problems all play a role in greatly lowering the quality of life of the individual. Data from the study also show that the quality-adjusted life-years lost due to poor health during living years was 152 percent greater for obesity than it was for smoking in 2008. Using population health-related quality-of-life data from the 1993-2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and years lost by premature deaths estimated from the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files, the researchers created a mathematical model that could represent both the quality of life and number of years lived in a single number, called the quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Jia said that the study is unique in its utilization of a single, comprehensive measurement of negative impact. He noted that the comprehensive nature of the quality-adjusted life-years measurement is especially valuable because looking solely at quality of life or number of years lived will yield contradictory conclusions in whether smoking or obesity is more detrimental to health. Dr. Peter Muennig, a researcher in health and policy management at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health said, "The methods they used are very innovative. It's been very difficult to get the QALY from the national data set in the past. That having been said, the methods they're using are pretty rough." The fall 2009 survey from the American College Health Association, which contained data on 22,000 students from 40 colleges and universities nationwide, reported that 56 percent of college students are not meeting the national recommendations for regular physical activity. The survey also reported that 94 percent of students are not getting the recommended five fruits and vegetables a day, and that 89 percent did not get enough sleep to feel rested on at least six days a week. "The Columbia academic environment does not foster motivation to work out or be healthy," Ryan Beppel, CC'10, said. "At the height of midterms, it could be 1 a.m. and you're studying. You don't care what you're putting in your body. It's just all about the classes." "People are so focused on their academics here that they really put their health in second place," Ting Ting Guo, CC '10, added. "People don't really exercise as much because they think 'Oh in that time I could be studying.'" Adrienne Wald, a doctoral candidate at Teachers College in the Department of Health and Behavior, argues that ignoring health is not in the interest of those who wish to excel in academics. "Independent of weight, physical activity has important physical and cognitive health benefits. Brain volume actually increases as a result of physical activity," Wald said. "Students are spending 100,000 dollars to get an education but they may not to live long enough to use it," Wald added. Despite the detrimental effects of obesity and unhealthy behaviors illuminated by recent studies, Lubetkin thinks it may take some time for people to adjust their habits. "Behavior is the hardest thing to change," Lubetkin said, "Family lifestyle and particularly peer susceptibility play a role—you eat what your friends eat." Guo echoed Lubetkin's thoughts on peer susceptibility when eating in groups: "Ideally you know what you want and you know you want to be healthy, but it's hard if everyone decides they want to get pizza ... what do you do?" But John DeChellis, CC '10, said he thought it was possible to change bad habits. "When you're surrounded by people who are examples of the positive impact of physical activity, results become very much more real and tangible for you," he said. Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the year of Ting Ting Guo. Spectator regrets the error.

Being skinny sucks. Your initial reaction might be to disagree with me. And there are legitimate reasons why you would. One, our culture has serious obesity and overweight problems. And two, a lot of my opinions are kind of stupid. But this is one opinion that I firmly believe is correct and worthy of your consideration. For years, skinny people like me have been marginalized by society. And I'm not just referring to the fact that girls keep rejecting me, although that is a very serious problem. What I mean more generally is that the plight of the skinny person often feels unvoiced in a culture that's infatuated with losing weight, burning calories, and drinking weird health drinks. Skinny people need a voice too. And get it? I said, "infatuated." The first reason why being skinny sucks is the economic disadvantage we're subjected to in a clothing market teeming with fatties. I have a very relevant story to illustrate this. Over spring break, I went to a store to buy pants. First, I went to the sale section, where nothing was within my taller, slimmer size range. So I had to go to the more expensive section, where, after nine hours of searching, I finally found one pair that fit. But I couldn't even buy them for myself, because they were pink girl pants. This is the shopping experience of all skinny people. In America today, being underweight for your height means you lose valuable time and money that should be spent elsewhere. In my case, I was going to spend that time writing this column. Instead, due solely to my economic disadvantage, I now am writing this just hours before publication, and I'm pretty sure my editor is kind of pissed and might kill me. Totally not my fault, Elaine. By the way, I have this extra pair of pink girl pants for you. Second, skinny people have a slightly less awesome command over physical elements. In third grade, whenever bigger kids cannonballed into a swimming pool, they'd make huge splashes, and everyone on the side of the pool would get really angry. I wanted to make splashes. I wanted to make everybody angry, too. But all my inner anger had to be suppressed and channeled into a column named "Tony Gong Explains the Universe." This can all be described quite logically. An increase in my mass would basically be an increase in my power. And from what I remember from physics class, an increase in power is an increase in F*d/t, where I guess "d" must stand for "douchebag." Reason three: My fast metabolism cruelly takes away some of the deepest joys of eating food. I may be skinny, but I love food, and I eat a lot. Few things in life are better than the satisfaction of feeling content and full after a big Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, my high-speed metabolism ruins this feeling after about 15-20 minutes. And I'm usually hungry again in about 45. Vegetarian food also sounds kind of fun. But because I'm skinny, it's not even an option—if I don't eat meat with every meal, I'm pretty sure I'd internally collapse, experience massive multiple organ failures, and kill everyone sitting around me within an hour. Fourth, people just think it's kind of creepy and sad when I do the truffle shuffle. Fifth, and this is probably the biggest mistake made by weight-loss culture, besides those awful fiber bars, being skinny doesn't even guarantee healthiness. Skinny people can still get most of the problems that plague overweight people, like high cholesterol. We also tend to have crappier immune systems. I haven't even factored in mental health yet—my life is very, very lonely. And I disagree with my therapist because I think the issue is my weight, not my personality. Ultimately, there are two reasons why I'm complaining about all this stuff. The first is that I'm extremely self-centered, so I love talking about my own problems. The second is that this is really a message for the overweight. The truth is that I'm incredibly self-conscious and jealous over all the things you have that I don't: a more normal metabolism, awesome cannonball skills, and an ability to do the truffle shuffle on someone's face and not immediately get unfriended by her on Facebook. Sorry, Elaine. Our culture glamorizes the skinny, which might make some of you reading this believe that skinny people like me must judge you all the time. But as it gets warmer in the next few weeks, wear those T-shirts and tank tops freely. I'm too busy with my own weight issues to judge yours. Besides, most of my time will be spent at clothing stores anyway. Tony Gong is a junior in the School of Engineering and Applied Science majoring in applied math with a minor in philosophy. Bears frighten him. Tony Gong Explains the Universe runs alternate Thursdays.

New York City children are facing an obesity epidemic and in Harlem, the problem is particularly widespread. Forty percent of K-8 students are obese or overweight, says a recently released city study, with data from the 2008-9 school year. But in Harlem zip codes, around 48 percent of children fall into that category. "We have a perfect storm that happens when you combine poverty with a lack of access to physical opportunities, and a lack of knowledge, and a lack of access to fresh foods," said Kevin Jeffrey, deputy commissioner for public programs of city Parks & Recreation, last week at Harlem Hospital Center. Jeffrey was speaking at this year's launch of Shape Up NYC, a campaign designed to promote healthy living and exercise. Despite discouraging statistics on child obesity, there are several local public and private initiatives now underway to address the correlation between low-income neighborhoods and obesity. Limited access to healthy food, lower levels of physical activity, poor health care, inadequate schooling, and stressful living conditions are factors often associated with poverty that also contribute to obesity. A recent study from the Mailman School of Public Health showed that most New York City public schools are within five minutes of five types of food outlets: national chains, fast food restaurants, pizzerias, small grocery stores, and convenience stores. There was an average of 10 bodegas within walking distance of public schools, and such bodegas were the most common source of unhealthy food. Merle Carroll, who has lived in Harlem for over 50 years, has noticed a decline in children's health over time. "When I was growing up, we had a lot of junk food, too. But we had more activities to do. You could jump on your bike and run and get your girlfriend. I had three pairs of skates. These kids have nothing to do." There's a need locally for more public spaces, she said. "We need places for these kids to hang out. We have a couple of recreation centers in the area, but that's not enough." Child obesity in neighborhoods like Harlem is not a new problem, though. A program called the Healthy Bodega Initiative has been going on since 2005, for example, as a way to increase healthy options at corner stores in East and Central Harlem, often the primary food sources for residents. The city works with select bodegas to help encourage customers to buy healthier options by providing them with nutrition information and hosting cooking demonstrations. The 2010 report of the Healthy Bodega Initiative found that 95 percent of these stores were offering low-sodium and reduced-sugar canned goods, and 78 percent reported that customers were buying healthier foods. The Health Department, in addition to a new ad campaign to raise awareness on the sugar content of soda, also recently launched the Green Cart Initiative, which gave 1000 permits to fresh fruit and vegetable vendors that are only allowed to sell in areas of low consumption. All 150 of the Manhattan Green Carts cater to upper Manhattan. Still, some locals say it doesn't feel like it's getting any better. "When you look around in Harlem, what you see is McDonald's and Taco Hell—I call it Taco Hell," said a neighborhood resident and comedian who goes by the name Side 2 Side. "I'm looking for a place where I could find a rotisserie chicken, a salad, or something like that, and you don't really have those options," she said, adding that she lost 100 pounds through the Shape Up program. Parks & Recreation has partnered with Shape Magazine and Equinox this year to offer New Yorkers free nutrition seminars and Zumba classes throughout the fall. "I'm a pediatrician and I started working in the city a long time ago, and the kids look really different," said Lynn Silver, assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, at the Shape Up event. She noted that obesity is especially widespread among minorities. In addition to these kinds of public programs, health advocates have taken the battle to fight child obesity to the streets. Central Harlem Health Revival had its fifth annual Health Festival on Sunday at Jackie Robinson Park. Michelle Harris, a registered nurse who was at the festival, said the problem of child obesity originates with parents. "They are going to be eating what the parents provide. Certainly you have to heighten their awareness as well." news@columbiaspectator.com

Lilliam Lara assembles piles of fresh produce behind the counter at Stephanie Grocery at 116th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Her daughter, after whom the store is named, stands at the cashier, surrounded by a colorful array of tomatoes, avocados, bananas, and grapes, as well as the usual hodgepodge of chips, cans of Coca-Cola, and six-packs of beer.