Obesity tops list of 'winnable' health battles

Face it, good people of Colorado. We’re getting fat.

True, we’re still a relatively lean population, compared with people in other states, but our obesity rate has more than doubled in 15 years, and, according to public health officials, more than 1 in 5 Colorado adults is obese.

But it’s a problem that can be readily addressed with a mix of personal action (like eating less and exercising more) and community support (like maintaining bike trails and parks). No wonder obesity is on the list of many public health agencies’ “winnable battles.”

Last week, the state health department issued its list of 10 winnable battles — public and environmental health problems that can be improved in three to five years through collaborative efforts among the private, nonprofit and public sectors. Obesity’s on the list. So are oral health, clean air, clean water, infectious disease prevention, mental health and substance abuse, food safety, tobacco prevention and unintended pregnancy.

Not so coincidentally, the Health Community Collaborative, a 60-member group in El Paso County, arrived at the same set of winnable battles to tackle on a local level, but members decided to start by emphasizing obesity.

“The Collaborative felt obesity prevention was an appropriate focus for right now,” said Dr. Bernadette Albanese, medical director of El Paso County Public Health. “All are important, and if we had an opportunity to access endless resources, we could have at it with all of these issues simultaneously. But we know that’s not the case. Some have to be strategic.”

State and county health officials say the winnable battles are not a call for more government spending and programs, but a way to bring public, private and nonprofit groups together to address pressing health and environmental issues.

“We know as a state that we can’t do it alone,” said Dr. Chris Urbina, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “We need schools, businesses and foundations all to take an interest in helping us move the winnable battles forward. It’s about bringing people together who care about these issues.”

Because benchmark data exist for each issue, public health officials say they’ll be able to measure whether progress is being made.

Albanese and Urbina note that many of the issues are already being addressed to some degree. On the obesity front, for example, the nonprofits LiveWell Colorado and Kaiser Permanente have undertaken projects to encourage people to lose weight, with the latter even paying people who shed pounds.

“We’re trying to align those efforts to make a greater impact,” Urbina said.

The effort to fight obesity in El Paso County is still in its infancy, but it’s critical to follow through, Albanese said.

“We see people suffering the consequences of obesity in diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol,” she said. “Enough is enough.

This is breaking the bank in the health care system.”
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