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Agency's Report Gives State's Health Failing Grade

Posted on: Saturday, 18 February 2006, 15:00 CST

By Jim Killackey, The Daily Oklahoman

Feb. 18--More than 30,000 Oklahomans stopped smoking in the past year, but the state still is No. 1 in the nation for tobacco use, the Oklahoma Health Department reported Friday. Oklahomans also have major health problems from being overweight and obese, and too many do not exercise, according to the agency's annual State of the State Health Report. "Nicotine addiction is the top killer in the state," because cigarette smoking often leads to lung cancer and heart disease, said Dr. Gordon Deckert, a state Board of Health member from Oklahoma City. Smoking still 'a blight' on health The report says smoking "continues to be a blight on the health" of all Oklahomans, and causes more death and disability than "any other preventable risk factor in life." The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, American Heart Association and Oklahoma Tax Commission have reported the lower smoking rate, based on the fact that 4.4 million fewer packs of cigarettes are being sold per month in the state compared with January 2005. The Health Department gave "F's" to the state for heart disease disability and death rates, lung cancer death rates, percentage of the population without health insurance and mothers not starting prenatal care in the first trimester of their pregnancies. Plaudits were given to the Oklahoma restaurants and hospitals that have gone smoke-free. On March 1, all eateries must prohibit smoking or have an enclosed and separately ventilated smoking room.

"A's" were handed out to Oklahomans who realized the health risks of diabetes and asthma and started treatment. Oklahomans also were praised for doing less binge drinking. However, Oklahoma was "the only state whose age-adjusted death rates worsened during the 1990s and 2000s," the report notes. Tax, programs credited for drop About 842,000, or 24.4 percent, of residents are smokers, according to Health Department estimates. A hike in the state cigarette tax and new statewide smoking-cessation programs led to the 30,000 decrease in smokers, health authorities said. "If we had the same death rate as the nation, we would have about 3,700 fewer people dying every year," the report states. It was released Friday at the state Capitol. More than 745,000 Oklahomans are overweight or obese, the report states. About 16 percent of children between 4 and 11 are overweight. "So many state children being overweight ... that's absolutely a health catastrophe coming down the pike," Deckert said.

"We're the fattest country in the world," he said. "We're a state where our citizens sit on their butts." Health problems associated with being overweight, according to the report, include type 2 diabetes, stroke, gallbladder disease, depression, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory difficulties and breast and colon cancers. "We're known nationally for having an unhealthy work force," Deckert said. State Health Commissioner Dr. Mike Crutcher said Oklahoma has a reputation "as being one of the least-healthy states in the country.""The common denominators are tobacco use, poor nutrition and a lack of exercise," he said. Gov. Brad Henry said Oklahoma's health status "is not where we want it to be." He and other state officials said positive health signs include Oklahoma Turning Point programs that stress county-by-county improvements such as building parks and walking tracks and decreasing drug abuse. A new law requires healthy food in school vending machines. "It's never too late to have an active lifestyle," the report states. "If you are 9 or 90, engaging in moderate physical activity at least 30 minutes five times per week can have immediate benefits. Any level of physical activity is better than no level." The report also stresses the need to decrease teen pregnancies, address mental health problems and require prompt childhood immunizations. Poverty and other factors contribute to Oklahoma's health deficiencies, according to the report. Oklahoma's population is quickly aging, and it has more minorities that "are disproportionately burdened with health disparities," the report notes.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Daily Oklahoman

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Source: The Daily Oklahoman

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