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Kentucky doesn't fare so well, at least as of 2008, but does better than neighboring states such as WV and TN and Southern tier counterparts such as SC, OK and MS. MS was the worst, in fact, at 32.8%--one of every three. KY didn't fare much better at over 29.8%--three of every ten.
Where I live now, CA, is at 23.7%. There are a lot of poorer neighborhoods and communities that dot the state (Richmond, West Oakland, East Palo Alto, many nabes and burbs of L.A., and all up and down the Central Valley) where they live at higher than average rates. The coastal areas, like where I live, have very few obese people.
I zoomed in on the map to get an idea of the areas of Kentucky that fared quite well, relatively well and just poorly.
Well:
Jefferson County (Louisville)
Nelson County (Bardstown, Bloomfield)
Kenton County (Covington, Independence, Ft. Mitchell, etc.)
Greater Lexington
Fayette County
Jessamine County (Nicholasville, Wilmore)
Relatively well:
Jackson Purchase
McCracken County (Paducah)
Calloway County (Murray, Hazel)
Rough River
Breckinridge County (Hardinsburg, Cloverport, Irvington)
Grayson County (Leitchfield, Clarkson)
Knob counties of South Central Kentucky
Barren County (Glasgow, Cave City)
Taylor County (Campbellsville)
Washington County (Springfield, Willisburg)
Boyle County (Danville, Perryville)
Appalachian foothills near Lexington
Madison County (Richmond, Berea)
Clark County (Winchester)
Estill County (Irvine, Ravenna)
Fleming County (Flemingsburg...and a big WTF?!)
Northern Kentucky
Boone County (Florence, Burlington, Walton, etc.)
Gallatin County (Warsaw, Sparta)
Campbell County (Newport, Ft. Thomas, Alexandria, etc.)
Poorly: The areas in the darkest blue have the highest obesity rates.
Much of the Sixth Congressional District in Southern and Eastern Kentucky. The Somerset, Manchester (another WTF?!) and Hazard areas fare slightly better but not much. Sadly, this is not surprise at all.
Much of the Western Coal Field (Calhoun, Madisonville, Providence, Morganfield, Princeton, Hartford, Eddyville areas).
The southern counties of the Jackson Purchase (Mayfield, Fulton, Hickman, Clinton areas).
US 27/US 460 region (Dry Ridge, Cynthiana, Paris, Falmouth, Mt. Sterling areas).
Frankfort area: This is fairly surprising to me.
Franklin County (Frankfort)
Anderson County (Lawrenceburg)
So, I pose this: What can be done to solve Kentucky's ongoing obesity problem? Yes, I know the die-hard-at-all-cost boosters will just blow it off with, "Well, it's a national problem." But seriously, what can be done? The state's Transportation Cabinet has already done a fairly good job at installing bike lanes along major streets in Louisville, Lexington, Versailles, and Harrodsburg and I hope KYTC keeps that up! Louisville and Owensboro now have bike beltlines that pretty much allow you to go around their perimeters by bicycle.
Will it take a cultural shift in promoting healthy eating and more active lifestyles? Can Louisville and Lexington set examples by taking the initiative and lead of cities like Chicago, Minneapolis and Raleigh?
Discuss.
Last edited by EclecticEars; 02-04-2012 at 10:25 PM..
I'm good at quizzes. Let me guess. Hmm...is the answer to stop overeating?
No argument there. It has worked well for me; I've lost 17 lbs. Haven't felt this good in a while!
If you're alluding to a point that there is nothing a government program can do about it, I agree with you. Personal choices are personal liberties, and overeating is on par with overconsumption of alcohol and smoking cigarettes in term of long term ramifications. They're hard to control and impossible to eradicate. Quite honestly, I think the state is doing the right thing by making roads more cyclist-friendly for the people that choose to utilize them.
Of course, we have plenty of bleeding heart liberals that will feel the need to "educate" by "mandating" healthier diet education. I will give them the effort to actually serve healthier food in cafeterias and remove coke machines from schools, I think it's a good idea. The real education of healthy living will ultimately come from the parents, and we know how useful and non-inept so many parents are in our society.
But I'm also trying to gather ideas to spark discussion, maybe someone has an out-of-the-box idea I haven't thought of.
Last edited by EclecticEars; 02-04-2012 at 11:54 PM..
Way too much fast food, convenience foods - and no where enough physical activity to burn all those
calories. I live near Shillito Park in Lexington - use to take my son there all the time when he was little,
and the park was full, when you go there now and walk the hiking trails, you see very little if any
children in the park - difference is night and day to what it use to be.
KIds now talk about going home from school to play football or basketball on their video game machines,
they use to actually go play sports for real. (It doesn't even have to be sports just any sort of playing and running outdoor really would help a lot.)
Also, good old Southern cooking (which does taste pretty good, let's face it) isn't usually the most diet conscience food of all.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,700 posts, read 41,742,544 times
Reputation: 41381
Quote:
Originally Posted by EclecticEars
No argument there. It has worked well for me; I've lost 17 lbs. Haven't felt this good in a while!
If you're alluding to a point that there is nothing a government program can do about it, I agree with you. Personal choices are personal liberties, and overeating is on par with overconsumption of alcohol and smoking cigarettes in term of long term ramifications. They're hard to control and impossible to eradicate. Quite honestly, I think the state is doing the right thing by making roads more cyclist-friendly for the people that choose to utilize them.
Of course, we have plenty of bleeding heart liberals that will feel the need to "educate" by "mandating" healthier diet education. I will give them the effort to actually serve healthier food in cafeterias and remove coke machines from schools, I think it's a good idea. The real education of healthy living will ultimately come from the parents, and we know how useful and non-inept so many parents are in our society.
But I'm also trying to gather ideas to spark discussion, maybe someone has an out-of-the-box idea I haven't thought of.
As an overweight guy myself, I can safely say that this is a problem that government can't do too much about.
I live in Louisville which has a lot of parks within driving distance of me and gyms too but I have no time to walk in the parks and don't want to do it in cold weather and don't have time or money to join a gym. A big reason forum lack of time is I have a job where I work 9-10 hours a day and I'm finishing up a bachelor's degree. Most of my day is spent either doing HW or working a stressful job. I have at most two hours of free time and that is time you need to relax and recharge. Don't have much time to cook either so naturally you'll go for what is fast and tastes good meaning fast food a lot. I'm trying to cut back on some things but it is a battle.
Big problem is that good health takes a backseat for survival for a lot of Kentuckians. What do I mean? A lot of folks are putting in 12 hrs a day 6 days a week and having good excerise and food are lower priorities to working to put ANY food on the table and resting to be able to work at all.
Can any govt regulation fix busy lives? Maybe so, but most in this country would see it as socialism for govt to regulate time and working hours therefore no one will pass it.
As for myself, I'm trying to get serious about cutting back on junk food. And hopefully once the job and school situation resolve I can get back to trying to excerise on a serious note.
The problem is too far out of hand. NOTHING can be done to reverse it. People will always eat at McD's, people will always eat two slices too many of pizza, etc etc.
BTW, I lost 19 lbs in 3 days a few weeks ago. In the hospital with severe food poisoning. Not fun...not the diet you want.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,476,450 times
Reputation: 12187
Simple. The gov't needs to stop subsizing peoples bad eating and lifestyle choices.
I think the gov't should not pay anything for medication for things like blood pressure medicine, diabetes, etc if the person getting them is obese. Sounds cold hearted, but blood pressure and diabetes can be totally cured with a healthy diet.
I also think restaurants should have to post calories on the menu. I don't want the gov't telling restaurants what they can serve me (no mandated portion sizes), but give me the info needed to make good choices.
Sorry, there is no cure for diabetes. A healthier lifestyle will help you live longer with diabetes but there is no absolute cure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by censusdata
Simple. The gov't needs to stop subsizing peoples bad eating and lifestyle choices.
I think the gov't should not pay anything for medication for things like blood pressure medicine, diabetes, etc if the person getting them is obese. Sounds cold hearted, but blood pressure and diabetes can be totally cured with a healthy diet.
I also think restaurants should have to post calories on the menu. I don't want the gov't telling restaurants what they can serve me (no mandated portion sizes), but give me the info needed to make good choices.
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