Obesity trend is now an epidemic

The woman sitting on the couch in a Woodbury apartment doesn't look anything at all like the fat lady in her scrapbooks. Brittany Robinson is two women, one before and one after, and it's the new one she likes best.

The change came after her weight soared about 100 pounds during her pregnancy with Wyatt, now her 22-month-old son.

"I asked the nurse, 'What's the most you've seen anybody gain?' " said Robinson, 28, who has lost all of that weight since. "She looked at me and said, 'You're one of those, Brittany.' It made me sad in my heart. I just decided I don't want to be fat anymore."

Robinson's determination to regain her ideal weight appears to be a rarity in Minnesota these days. That is causing serious concern for health officials who have started several weight-loss campaigns across the state.

Fully 62 percent of residents now are hefty enough to rank as overweight or even obese. The relentless march of obesity -- anyone with a body mass index of 30 or more qualifies -- is spreading alarm among health officials as they prepare to unleash a four-year war on obesity. The effort -- funded with $24 million in state-appropriated money -- begins July 1.

"It's really scary," said Cara McNulty, who manages the anti-obesity initiative for the Minnesota Health Department. "It's why we call it an epidemic. This is a crisis issue."

Obesity-induced heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes accounted for 54 percent of all deaths statewide in 2006, according to state figures. Obesity and the other culprit targeted in the initiative -- tobacco use -- account for millions of dollars in medical expenses in the state each year.

"They say this is the first generation that may not live as long as their parents because of their eating habits," said Carole Kruger, who leads a Weight Watchers group in Woodbury.

McNulty said that the Statewide Health Improvement Program -- known as SHIP -- began with a five-year experiment in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Willmar in which climbing obesity rates either were slowed or reversed. The money that will go to cities, counties and tribal governments this summer will attempt to change the unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior that causes obesity, she said.

In Washington County, as in other suburbs, obesity might be traced to a high number of commuters spending hours driving or more people with higher salaries eating out, said Sue Hedlund, deputy director of the county Health Department.

"A lot of weight gain is due to mindless eating," said Kruger, who lost substantial weight years ago and kept it off. Weight Watchers, she said, is seeing more people who are heavier -- many in the high 200-pound range, some more than 300 pounds.

In Anoka County, Rina McManus said the county is trying to stop obesity before it starts. That means work in the schools and day-care centers to promote healthy eating. The other escalating problem, she said, is "screen time" in front of computers, televisions and other electronic gadgets.

After she joined a weight-loss program and started losing weight, she also quit smoking. She doesn't drink, she goes to a health club, and she is now a senior at the University of Minnesota and hopes to do social work or work for a nonprofit agency.