York countians tipping the scales – 2/3 of us are fat or obese
The York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News explores why two-thirds of York countians – 425,000-plus strong, or fat – are overweight or obese. “This series examines how we got so big, why the food we need to live can consume us, who bears the cost of our size and whether it s realistic to think we can shed weight and get healthier,” a newspaper promo states. Also of interest: Farmland preservation, YorkCounts quality-of-life indicator: Ag use outpacing population growth and Further education plans, YorkCounts quality-of-life indicator: Post-high-school prospects rising and Teen motherhood, YorkCounts quality-of-life indicator: Despite historic occurrence among Pennsylvania Dutch, rate is falling.
Readers will be treated – or depressed – by findings in a seven-part York Daily Record/Sunday News series in print and on the Web about York County’s obesity problem.
By problem, I mean:
– The York-Hanover region is the fourth most-obese metro area in the United States.
– That region’s obesity rate is 34 percent. The national rate is 26.5 percent.
– Heart disease is the leading cause of death in York County, followed by cancer and stroke. Obesity can lead to all three of these diseases.
“The scales have tipped in York County,” the newspaper reported. “About two-thirds of us are overweight or obese. Young and old, men and women.
“Those extra pounds are making us sick and depressed, wasting our money and killing us young.”
The series will probe reasons from history for our obesity, trying to find out how we’ve surpassed the tipping point.
Perhaps YorkCounts, a York County group that specializes in exploring solutions to our pressing problems, could bring together the right groups to probe this one.
For more, check out Fat Battleground: Obesity in York County.
Also of interest:
– High school graduation, YorkCounts quality-of-life indicator: Rising after a low start.
– Tobacco usage, YorkCounts quality-of-life indicator: Rooted in York County’s past.
