(CNN.com) According to a study released Tuesday by the Washington, D.C.-based Trust for America’s Health, the percentage of overweight Oregonians held steady at 21 percent last year, a sharp contrast to Alabama, where the rate of obesity increased 1.5 percentage points to 27.7 percent.
Well, I guess I’ve done my part by remaining obese; I haven’t gotten fatter! And I’ve got a problem with this “obese” tag. Look at my picture from 2002 where I weigh 215lbs. According to the government BMI calculator at the CDC, in that picture I’m just barely not obese and still qualify as “overweight”. Put another 6 pounds on (221lbs), a weight where I’d be getting into my “skinny” clothes and feeling quite studly, the government would call me “obese”. At my current 280lbs, they call me “severely obese”. Another 10lbs and I’m “morbidly obese”.
I don’t know about that. In my mind, “obese” is when your circumference exceeds your height. “Obese” is when fat rolls cause parts of your skin to touch and sweat all day. While I am a big fat guy, I think I’m more big than fat. They say my ideal weight is between 160lbs-196lbs. Ha! I think I once weighed 160lbs in junior high. At 180lbs I’d be emaciated. 210lbs sounds like a reasonable weight for me.
Where was I? Oh yes, Oregon’s obesity rate is the only one of the fifty states that held steady; the other 49 states have gotten fatter. Why is that?
What makes Oregon different is its emphasis on urban design, which encourages outdoor activities like biking to work, the study’s authors said.
Ten percent of Portland residents pedal to the office on a system of bike paths that crisscross the city like arteries, just as they do in Boulder, Colorado — another bike-friendly metropolis, located in the leanest state in the nation. Only 16.4 percent of Coloradans are obese, according to the study.
“The solution to obesity is not that everyone should run a marathon,” said Michael Earls, co-author of the study. “It’s the little things that begin to make a dent in the problem, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or riding your bike to work.”
If a city or town is built in such a way that it forces residents to drive long distances, instead of walking or cycling, then physical activity becomes something that has to be planned rather than an activity which can be woven into the fabric of everyday life, he said.
Moreover, …the City of Portland, provides financial incentives, such as a $25 bonus each month for riding [a] bike to work at least 80 percent of the time.
Not only does Portland, Salem, and Eugene have a wonderful system of bike lanes, but we also have a bus and light rail system that is very bike-friendly. You can bike to the bus stop, put your bike on the bus’ front bike rack, get off the bus at the train station, take the train into downtown with your bike suspended on a rack inside the train, then get off downtown and ride wherever you need to.
But it’s not just the exercise, it’s also the food:
Another factor that might explain Oregon’s stagnant obesity rate is healthier eating. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of farms in Oregon increased by about 50 percent from 1974 to 2002, a period when many farms across the country were going up on the auction block.
As a result, Oregon’s cities have seen a mushrooming of farmer’s markets — “from just one tiny Saturday market tucked away in a corner of Portland, to one for practically every day of the week,” said organic farmer Shari Raider, who delivers a bounty of fresh greens to area restaurants.
