During this blizzard of 2010, I thought about the difficulties an ambulance would have reaching someone in need on an unplowed street—let alone if the person were significantly obese and hard to transport on even an ordinary day.  Then today I read an astounding Washington Post article that noted “a patient between 400 pounds and 600 pounds is part of every workweek for many crews throughout the [DC metro] region.”  Really? I thought this only happened on occasion in select areas shown on the Discovery Channel.  Apparently, not the case.

Emergency medical crews are making hefty investments (no pun intended) in super-sized, ambulatory equipment.   According to the article, “sales of stretchers designed specifically for very large patients were expected to reach $50 million in 2012, up from $29.6 million in 2004, while sales of specialized lift systems were projected to rise from $75 million to $193 million.”

And, it is interesting that just as healthcare spending is rising at a faster rate than the U.S. economy overall, the rate of morbidly obese patients who are at least 100 pounds overweight is increasing faster than obesity as whole, according to a RAND study.

What is more alarming is that, for the first time ever in U.S. history, children may have a shorter lifespan than their parents, and much of the reason is due to obesity and its related health problems.  More than 23 million children (one third of all children and adolescents in the country) are overweight or obese and at greater risk for Type II diabetes and other chronic, life-threatening health conditions.

So, how can we keep our children from ending up in super-sized stretchers one day?

In a previous post, I discussed environmental factors that hinder our ability as a nation to stay un-obese, so I’ll expand on that with some ideas I’ve heard in the classroom.

One suggested strategy has been a soda or sugar-sweetened beverage tax.

• Studies show that obesity decreases as the prices of unhealthy foods and drinks increase and that this is especially true for children, who are price-sensitive.  In addition, many of the parents responsible for purchasing soda for children in the first place would also be price-sensitive, which is important, since parents are key agents of change when it comes to childhood obesity.

• The tax funds could be used to target other types of obesity prevention programs.   According to one report, a national tax of one cent per ounce of soda would generate at least $14.9 billion in the first year—an amount 30 times larger than what the nation’s largest funder of childhood obesity work spends in 5 years.

Another proposed strategy has been menu labeling, which would help both consumers to make more rational food choices and restaurants to make healthier ingredient decisions for some of their products.

• Dining outside of the home comprises more than 45% of food dollars spent in the United States, per the USDA, and these meals have higher calories, fat, and sodium and fewer nutrients than those prepared at home.  And despite the fact that some Americans prefer to select healthier foods when eating out, studies show that the majority of people cannot always discern between healthy and unhealthy food choices.

• Evidence shows that packaged food labeling is associated with eating more healthfully, and the provision of nutrition information for away-from-home foods could also positively influence food purchases. According to the American Heart Association, a study of existing menu labeling policy in New York City shows that more than 80% of people viewed the change positively.

• Meanwhile, menu labeling laws have also prompted some restaurants to make nutritional changes in food, now that the information is publicly available.

Finally, kudos to our First Lady for heading the Let’s Move campaign that seeks to resolve the childhood obesity epidemic by the next generation. 

Those are just a few ideas in which I have seen a lot of discussion—what else can we do?

And, how do we address the short term question of keeping adults out of super-size stretchers?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 8:15 am and is filed under Children. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.