Lucas County grapples with weight gain, mental health

Sept. 18--A new report from the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio showed that Lucas County residents continue to struggle with weight gain and that teens are grappling more than ever with mental health issues such as suicide.

According to the 2013/2014 Lucas County Health Status Report, 70 percent of all Lucas County adults are either obese or overweight based on body mass index.

The findings of the new survey were shared in a two-hour meeting with about 150 local health-care, government, and nonprofit agencies at ProMedica Toledo Hospital's Public Education Center.

In addition to information on weight, the wide-ranging survey gathered information on other health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and asthma. The assessment also looked at the mental health of adults, teens, and children and asked questions about health-care coverage and drug and alcohol use.

The assessment separated obesity and overweight into two categories and found that between 2007 and 2014, the obesity rate in Lucas County rose 3 percentage points from 33 to 36 percent.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, adult obesity ranges are determined by using weight and height to find a Body Mass Index. An adult who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight.

An adult with a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

"The obesity rate did go up again. I'm not going to say that's shocking because we are finding that in other counties as well, but [health agencies] do have a lot of efforts going on ... so I would have at least like to see it stay the same," said Britney Ward, director of community health improvement for the Hospital Council.

"We've got a problem in Ohio in general of being a state that is overweight." said Dennis Hicks, minority health coordinator for the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department.

Mr. Hicks said as obesity rates increase, they contribute to other health problems, such as diabetes. According to the health assessment, the number of adults who reported they had been diagnosed with diabetes rose from 13 to 15 percent from 2011 to 2014.

"I think it speaks to having to do something different. Eating right and getting exercise are important, and we have been talking about those things for a long time, but we also have to look at the food supply," Mr. Hicks said.

Ms. Ward oversees the data-collection process for Lucas County. She said results in the report are based on nearly 2,800 surveys of adults, teens, and children in Lucas County.

She said one of the surprising findings was that concerns about mental health issues are increasing in the teen population surveyed.

The survey revealed that 18 percent of 9th to 12th graders seriously had contemplated suicide in the last year and that 8 percent had tried it in the last year.

Some 14 percent of 5th to 6th graders reported that they felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row and 5 percent attempted suicide in the last year.

"It's not just Lucas County. You can ask any county and their numbers are all increasing like that. It's the entire region, the state, and the national numbers going up," Ms. Ward said.

Ms. Ward said she is concerned that social-media use contributes to the feelings of hopelessness expressed by youths in the survey. She said children can't escape their troubles or bullying when they leave school, because it follows them home on their phones and computers.

One of the more positive results in the survey, however, was a reduction in the number of teens who reported coping with bullying at school. Thirty-eight percent of 9th to 12th graders reported they were bullied in the last year, down from 43 percent in 2011.

"I was pleasantly surprised on the reduction of bullying. We have had a large community effort going on for the past couple of years since the data came out," said Gaye Martin, community advocacy manager for ProMedica Health System.

Ms. Martin warned, however, that all the information in the survey was self-reported. Participants can underreport on sensitive topics, she said.

"...We take it that people are being honest, but I think you have to take things with a grain of salt. But it's great data, and it's sound data," Ms. Martin said.

The Healthy Lucas Coalition, made up of the health department, area hospitals, and several nonprofits, will go through the report in more detail and determine if the coalition's programming makes sense based on the survey results, Ms. Ward said.

Contact Marlene Harris-Taylor at mtaylor@theblade.com or 419-724-6091.

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