Childhood obesity rates high in Georgia

The AJC covers the distressingly high percent of Georgia's youth who are severely overweight and obese:

Georgia’s children rank as some of the heaviest in the country, with about 37 percent of children ages 10 to 17 overweight or obese, according to a 2009 Robert Wood Johnson study.

The extra pounds put youngsters at risk for obesity-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which used to be seen mainly in adults.

The article focuses on eating habits, alluding to the epidemic of physical inactivity but not connecting the dots between the built environment and inactivity. When our neighborhoods and cities are built to accommodate automobiles, and not people, people (big surprise!) do not engage in much activity: sit in the car, sit in the classroom, sit in the den, etc.

In communities that make biking and walking safe, convenient transportation options, obesity levels are much lower and children are healthier.

In light of these facts, Georgians shouldn't be too surprised by the obesity issue in the state but ought to be embarrassed by this.

South leads in obesity rates

A recent nationwide study on obesity rates shows the southern U.S. still in the lead.

Aside from our country-fried diet of chicken and biscuits, our inactivity is a major factor in our collective girth. We've built our communities to accommodate car use, to the almost complete exclusion of enabling a walk or bike ride.

If we incorporate physical activity into our daily routines - commuting by bicycle, walking to and from the bus stop, spending weekends strolling greenways - we will make significant headway against the obesity epidemic. The best way to encourage walking and biking is to make it as safe and as convenient as driving, which means we need:

- an interconnected network of well-maintained bike lanes and greenways
- an interconnected network of well-maintained sidewalks and crosswalks
- a bus system that takes people where they want to go, when they need to go

While Athens-Clarke and UGA, especially, have made modest gains towards these goals, we are only half-way there. Many still feel unsafe riding a bicycle in Athens. Long stretches of foot worn paths evidence the need for more sidewalks.

As Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health, notes, the obesity problem is "not going to be solved in the doctor's office but in the community, where we change norms."