Morbidly Watching Obesity's Growth
- By Jerry Laws
- Sep 03, 2009
Playing tennis the other day
on a hot summer morning
reminded me of my childhood
in Salisbury, Md. My
friends and I played baseball and other
sports, but tennis was #1 for the entire
community. Bill Riordan, a local man
who loved the sport, had
lured the national indoor
tennis tournament from
New York City, and my
hometown loved it. While
writing this column, I
found a 1964 Sports Illustrated
article online that tells
how Riordan brought the tournament
and top players of that era to town and
made the event a success.
Today's Marylanders aren't playing
enough tennis or engaging in other
kinds of exercise, but that's true across
the board. CDC reported July 8 that
the percentage of U.S. adults who are
obese increased to 26.1 percent in 2008
from 25.6 percent in 2007; 32 states had
an adult obesity rate of 25 percent or
higher last year, and just one, Colorado,
was below 20 percent. CDC's interactive map traces the steady increase
state by state, using data from CDC's
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System. Take a good look: This map is a
disheartening display.
Employers, the government, health
authorities and associations — everybody,
it seems — realizes we must
reverse this unhealthy slide or the rising
costs will bankrupt us, not
to mention that our lives
will be shorter and less
pleasant. Obesity is a risk
factor for chronic diseases
and the flu, after all.
A well-known ergonomist,
Dr. Jerome Congleton,
Ph.D, PE, CPE, of the
Texas A&M University Health Science
Center, talked about obesity when we
met at the Safety 2009 conference in
June. "We have to stand," he said, pointing
out that sedentary workers will lose
20 pounds per year by intermittently
standing for 15-20 minutes several
times a day. This recommendation is
fully explored in the 2nd Edition of
"Could You Stand to Lose: Weight Loss
Secrets for Office Workers," a book
written by Mark E. Benden, Ph.D., CPE,
executive vice president of Neutral Posture
Inc. Visit www.standtolose.com and www.neutralposture.com
to learn more.
This article originally appeared in the September 2009 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.
About the Author
Jerry Laws is Editor of Occupational Health & Safety magazine, which is owned by 1105 Media Inc.