Residents of Prince George’s County suffer from high obesity and chronic disease rates, according to a recent study by the School of Public Health.
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, this article incorrectly attributed studies of county residents. The School of Public Health conducted the July survey and the county gathered data between 2008 and 2010. The article has since been changed to reflect this correction.
County residents suffer from higher obesity and chronic disease rates than residents of neighboring counties, according to a recent study by the School of Public Health.
The study reported 35 percent of county residents surveyed were obese and 34 percent were overweight, according to the study, conducted in July. In addition, only 28.6 percent of adults in the county were not considered overweight or obese between 2008 and 2010, according to the county’s 2012 Health Action Plan. University officials said they are working to establish healthy habits in students and help those struggling with nutrition and weight problems.
While the county’s obesity rate is on par with the national average, it is about 6.7 percent higher than the state’s obesity rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The university study also found hypertension sends about 257 out of 100,000 residents to the hospital every year and diabetes sends about 308 of 100,000 county residents to the emergency room annually.
While heart disease kills about 195 out of 100,000 people nationally each year, according to the CDC, it kills about 224 out of 100,000 county residents annually.
Junior marketing major Molly Alsobrook, who was born with Type 1 diabetes, said she is frustrated by soaring obesity statistics.
“I definitely know a lot of people who got diabetes because they were overweight,” she said. “It makes me mad that other people can avoid it, but they don’t. I didn’t get that opportunity.”
Telling students to diet and exercise isn’t enough, Alsobrook added. The university should inform students through personal testimonies what it’s like to live with diabetes to help them get the message, she said.
“A typical cold for me is 10 times worse than a cold for anyone else, and some days I can’t go to class because of my blood sugar,” Alsobrook said. “It’s restricting enough that it alters my life.”
Campus dietitian Jane Jakubczak said increased stress levels, sleep deprivation and poor diet are the main causes for obesity in students.
“We are very aware of the obesity problem across the nation in general,” she said. “I really think that this is a good time in one’s life — as a college student — to start laying the foundation of making sure you’re eating healthy and exercising.”
The campus offers services to help students control their weight, such as nutrition counseling, free diet analysis and nutrition workshops.
In addition, kinesiology professor Espen Spangenburg created FITerp — a Facebook group dedicated to promoting fitness events in the area — with honors kinesiology students.
“The idea behind it was to make information more readily available to students, so they know what possibilities are on campus for them to be physically active,” Spangenburg said.
On the county level, several initiatives to prevent and control chronic disease are moving forward, including local policies requiring chain restaurants to provide nutritional information for menu items, informing the public to raise demand for healthier food choices at restaurants and food markets and increased marketing of healthier foods, according to the Health Action Plan.
