Now that the dust from a contentious election has settled, the closing of the Bucksport mill leaving more than 500 people without work has been announced and Maine now ranks 49th on Forbes’ “Best States for Business and Careers” list, the people of Maine are settling in for another long winter.
For many, that means shifting into hibernation mode with a good book in hand, the TV remote within easy reach or a myriad of high-tech devices at our fingertips. The news could be better, so being distracted by other things is a bit easier to live with. Let’s pause for a minute and examine a few other pieces of disturbing news: obesity is a major health problem and the incidence of obesity in our youth has risen at an alarming rate in recent decades.
It’s enough to make a person reach for another cup of cocoa and find a really engaging channel to watch — but please don’t. Hibernation mode may turn out to be a real gift — an opportunity to reflect on some unpleasant truths with the possibility of actually finding a greater understanding of some of the issues and, best of all, some strategies to address them.
We have known for some time that folks who struggle with obesity also struggle with a host of other related illnesses: diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and stroke, to name a few. Studies have concluded that Maine will see an estimated $452.7 million spent on obesity-related medical costs annually. That’s a staggering amount by anyone’s definition.
With health care and economics being such hot topics in today’s political world and at home, it might be worthwhile to examine the University of Maine study about the medical costs of childhood obesity in Maine that broke this expensive news. The news is not good.
Childhood obesity comes with its own set of additional health problems and the very real possibility of obese children becoming obese adults.
Why does this matter? The health of children matters, and the economic realities of a struggling state matter. This study projects that the cost of obesity in 20 years, when this group of children have become adults, will be $1.2 billion, an amount that is almost beyond comprehension, let alone an amount that the state of Maine can afford.
This study is all about projections: the number of children who may become obese, the number of obese children who become obese adults, the number of adults who remain or become obese and the costs related to all of these.
Today, the bottom line seems to drive most everything in our society, so unless we want to see ourselves grappling with an almost unimaginable fiscal disaster, we need to do something.
It is no secret that diet and exercise are the keys to healthy living and that Maine schools are endeavoring to serve healthy lunches and provide physical activity opportunities. But that is not enough.
As schools, communities and families, we need to be proactive and seek those strategies that will help our children and adults to become more active and healthy.
One strategy is to put hibernation mode aside and become winter-active Mainers.
Grace Morgan of Boothbay is a retired health educator and a former member of the board of WinterKids, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help children develop lifelong habits through fun, outdoor winter activity. Visit WinterKids’ website at www.winterkids.org to learn about its resources and activities that help communities and families become active in the winter.