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| Dr. Patrick Withrow, chief medical officer at Western Baptist Hospital, explains the purpose of a pig's liver to Heath Elementary school children on Oct. 8. Withrow, a former cardiologist, regularly visits elementary schools to educate children about childhood obesity. 'I keep it simple,' Withrow said, 'Each day children should play for one hour, smaller portions of food and eat five servings of fruit and vegetables. |
Most people know that obesity is considered an epidemic but few understand that it can cause numerous health problems. Obesity has been known to cause diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, according to local specialists. And those conditions can lead to amputation, stroke, kidney failure or a heart attack.
“This generation of children is projected to have a shorter lifespan than their parents,” said Dr. Patrick Withrow, chief medical officer at Western Baptist Hospital. “And that’s because they are more likely to be obese.”
An overweight person has a body mass index greater than 25, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An obese individual has a BMI greater than 30.
Nearly one-third of Kentucky’s adult population is obese, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control, and another third of the population is overweight. That is more than twice the number of obese people in the state 25 years ago.
“I’ve seen more and more (overweight) children the longer I have been teacher,” said Joey Benton, a fifth grade teacher at Heath Elementary School.
Since most of the body’s fat cells develop during childhood, Withrow said, obesity can easily begin at a young age.“If a person is overweight (as a child)” that person will have a higher number of fat cells for the rest of their life, he said.
The increased weight will lead to serious health care problems, Withrow said. Initially, the child will complain of pain in their hips, knees and ankles. Because those joints carry most of a person’s weight, and because a child’s joints are still developing, those areas can become unstable, causing joint slippage and pain during their later years.
As an obese child becomes an obese adult, warned Withrow, health issues — such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol — can shorten a person’s life or change the quality of their life.
“Diabetes can lead to amputations,” Withrow emphasized. “High cholesterol and high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attacks and kidney failure.”
The price tag for treating obesity caused diseases
• Diabetes — Patients who contract diabetes and take oral medication to maintain their blood sugar levels can be burdened with as much $3,200 in annual prescriptions, stated Consumer Reports in their comparison of medicines. The bill for amputation surgery could be as high as $40,000, according to a study published in the American Podiatric Medical Association.
• Heart Attack — It costs more than $16,000 for the average five-day hospital treatment for a heart attack, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ statistics. A heart attack victim will pay another $3,000 for one their yearly high blood pressure or heart disease medicines, stated Consumer Reports.
• Transplants — It would cost about $222,000 to obtain and perform heart transplant surgery, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Heart and Lung Association. It would cost another $18,000 each year to follow up with their doctors.
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An obese person is likely to have these problems, Withrow explained, is because the fat in their body becomes an organ that interferes with the body’s normal processes.
“An obese person has visceral fat,” Withrow said, “That is fat that is between (their organs), pushes out the stomach and produces hormones that kill the effects of insulin.”
As the insulin levels fall in a person’s bloodstream, according to the CDC, a person’s body loses the ability to store sugar from the food in cells, a condition known as hyperglycemia. Additionally, the higher amount of blood sugar can damage nerves and blood vessels.
More people are becoming obese because more people are working office jobs and eating fat-filled foods, Benton said.
“People go out to eat more often because it’s convenient,” Benton said. “It’s easier to just stop at a drive-through and pick up a supersized meal on the way to (a destination).”
Because both parents work, Benton said, there is less time to plan and make family meals.
“My parents would take us out (to a restaurant) maybe once a week,” Benton said about her childhood. “It was an occasional treat or reward for a good week.” Today’s families eat restaurant food or fast-food more frequently because they have too many weekly events to have home cooked meals, Benton said.
BMI is only a guideline The Body Mass Index, or BMI, is not the best indicator of weight and health, said Western Baptist Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer Patrick Withrow and Energy Fitness’s Personal Training Director Debbie George.
“The BMI does not consider a person’s muscle mass, body type and age,” George said. A muscular person will have a higher BMI, George explained. The BMI solely considers weight and height as an indicator or a person’s health.
Another measurement, a person’s Waist-to-Hip Ratio, is a better indicator in Withrow’s view. Because visceral fat, the deadly fat, pushes out an obese person’s stomach, a larger waist circumference than hip circumference will more accurately indicate if a person is obese.
“I’d cut someone a little slack if their BMI is between 25 to 30,” Withrow said, “but if it’s higher than 30 then I’d watch out for them.”
Compiled by Michael de los Reyes
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“Among fast food restaurants,” stated a study, “The Financial Reality of Overeating,” published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, “The average (supersized) meal increases (the number of calories) from 927 to 1324 at an added cost of 67 cents.”
But the regular meal would contain 37 percent of a person’s recommended daily calories, wrote the study’s authors, Rachel N. Close and Dale A. Schoeller. The supersized meal could result in 36 grams additional fat in a person’s body, the authors concluded.
“People really need to be educated on nutrition,” said Debbie George, the personal training director at Energy Fitness in Paducah. “Those fast foods are bad foods.”
Neither George, nor anyone on her staff, is a registered dietitian.
But “eating habits are accountable for 85 percent of the change in a person’s body,” George said. Data provided by George indicated that the average person eats about three to five pounds of food a day. And most people feel satisfied after consuming about four pounds of food regardless of the kind of food consumed.
Four pounds of candy will have 1000 percent more calories than four pounds of raw fruit, according to George’s data.
“The difference is the fiber,” Withrow explained. “It gives people a full feeling (without all those calories).”
Ending obesity and losing visceral fat, Withrow said, will be a personal decision.
“People need to take responsibility for their bodies,” he said. “If they dedicated some time to modifying their diet, they can change their body, improve their self-image, lower their stress and raise their morale.”
Contact Michael de los Reyes, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8652.
