Despite the surveys that declare Washington to be one of the healthiest cities and the seemingly ceaseless stream of people seen jogging on the National Mall, the District of Columbia has an increasingly heavy issue to deal with: A majority of D.C. residents is obese. So city officials are re-launching an effort to get residents to slim down.
The D.C. Department of Health is working with Providence Hospital and other obesity experts to create what they're calling a "culture of health." It's a continuation of the Obesity Action Plan that kicked off last year and one of the few programs to transition from ex-Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration to Mayor Vincent Gray's administration, according to a public relations official for Providence Hospital.
The Obesity Action Plan found more than five in 10 D.C. adults to be overweight or obese.
At a special summit to address the issue on Monday, Gray acknowledged the problem and said it gets worse in certain wards, where the rate of overweight/obese residents approaches 72 percent.
"Frankly, when you look at our city, we're not so healthy," Gray said. "And the further east you move, the higher the incidence you find of hypertension, cancer, diabetes. You name the condition, and we are often off the scale in the District of Columbia."
They're all conditions connected to obesity, Gray said. As far as explaining the varying obesity rates across the city, experts at the summit discussed the racial and geographical disparities in the availability of healthy, non-processed food options and even higher crime rates in certain neighborhoods that could discourage children from getting exercise outdoors.
Making streets safer is one part of the city's new action plan, along with recruiting "community coaches" for each ward to encourage physical activity. Gray has volunteered himself to be the citywide community coach.
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Also on the fat-busting agenda: Bringing doctors and nurses to schools to promote healthy living, and creating wellness contracts that will add health requirements for city jobs.
Read more about the new initiative here.
