To combat obesity, start with the moms
If we're really serious about tackling obesity, it's high time we focused on helping women -- particularly mothers -- manage their weight.
That's the message from the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, one of 20 groups getting together in D.C. tomorrow under the aegis of STOP's Task Force on Women to discuss ways to remove the barriers that make maintaining a healthful weight so challenging for so many American women.
According to STOP (which operates out of George Washington University), more than 65 million American women are obese or overweight. Teaching them to overcome obstacles that complicate their weight management should have a trickle-down effect on their children, the group says. Moreover, campaigns such as Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative depend in large part on mothers' steering their children toward better eating and exercise habits. If the mothers don't have a good grasp on those habits themselves, STOP argues, how can they teach them to their kids?
Here's the group's official statement:
There is an information gap and a general lack of understanding of obesity's unique and disproportionate impact on women in the United States. Obesity in women must be addressed at the federal, state, community and individual levels to help them overcome weight and chronic disease issues and improve their overall health. Because women play such an influential role in American families, addressing this issue now may reap significant and immediate benefits in reducing the risks and consequences of obesity for the health and well being of women and their families.
(As I blogged yesterday, parental involvement in kids' obesity and their efforts -- or lack thereof -- to help their children maintain a healthful weight has become a controversial issue.)
STOP and the its task force cite four kinds of barriers that get in women's way:
- Biological, cultural, socioeconomic and psychological factors affecting women at various points in their lives
- Pervasive racial and ethnic disparities
- Systemic and gender biases women encounter in various settings
- Confusion over what defines successful weight loss
Like many others paying attention to obesity issues -- and particularly to the links between excess weight and such chronic conditions as heart disease and diabetes -- I believe it's going to take a major, groundswell movement to turn the tide on obesity in this country. I happen to prefer approaches that emphasize personal behaviors and decision-making processes over broad governmental actions, so I'll be curious to see what kinds of solutions this task force offers up. I'll post again after they meet and let you know.
Jennifer LaRue Huget
July 20, 2010; 7:00 AM ET
Categories: Childhood obesity , Family Health , General Health , Health Policy , Nutrition and Fitness , Obesity , Women's Health
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