Maintaining Healthy
Body Weight:
A
Continued Challenge
for
Bexar County
Residents
By Nicole Rogers,
MPH, CHES
Executive Director of the
Health Collaborative
How healthy are the residents of
Bexar County and what can
physicians and other health
care professionals do to improve the
health status of our community?
A good place to find out is the 2006
Bexar County Community Health
Assessment, compiled by The Health
Collaborative. Issued every four years,
the assessment serves as a comprehensive
report of local health, guiding the
community’s efforts toward prevention
and health improvement.
According to data from the final
report, maintaining a healthy body
weight continues to challenge many
Bexar County residents, with 69 percent
of the population reported as
being overweight. In the county, the
proportion of the population reporting
having healthy body weight dropped
from 35 percent in 2002 to 29 percent
in 2004-05.
Although leisure time activity
increased in Bexar County from 2002
to 2004-05, obesity continues to
increase. Leisure time activity is physical
exercise done by choice rather than
as a requirement. Leisure time activity
increased in Bexar County with 76 percent
of residents reporting that they
exercised in 2004-05, up from 69 percent
in 2002.
The data suggests that the message
about the need for more active
lifestyles is reaching the community.
However, increased efforts are needed
to promote healthy food choices, portion
control, continued physical activity
and other behaviors that lead to
healthy lifestyles if the high rates of
obesity and chronic disease are to be
reversed and prevented.
Data from the assessment also supports
the need for additional community
infrastructure in preventing obesity
and chronic disease. In community
meetings held as part of the assessment,
residents expressed interest in
infrastructure and physical environment,
community programs, education
and access to healthcare facilities.
Based on the final report, The Health
Collaborative has selected prevention of
youth obesity as one of its top priority
issues for the next five years. Our second
and third priority issues will be initiatives
relating to access to care for the
uninsured and health literacy, which will
be announced in early 2008.
The Health Collaborative suggests
that local physicians help improve
community health by:
• Recognizing the link between obesity
and mental health and create a “shame free” environment for patients.
• Having mental healthcare referral
information available in your office
for patients who decide to seek help.
• Advocating for insurance companies
to cover gastric bypass procedures.
• Encouraging other physicians to
accept Medicaid/CHIP plans in their
offices and to support and sustain
their retention.
• Supporting Frew versus Hawkins
legislation.
• Advocating for greater access to care
for the uninsured.
The Health Collaborative compiles and
publishes the Bexar County Community
Health Assessment as a gift to the community,
with the understanding that the more
the community knows about its health status,
the better able the community will be
to take collaborative action to improve it.
To review the 2006 Bexar County Community
Health Assessment, visit our website,
www.healthcollaborative.net.
A cutting-edge, public-private model for
solving community health issues, The
Health Collaborative began informally in
1997 when several area health care organizations
agreed to put aside their competitive
business practices to conduct the first
community health assessment. The mission
of the organization is to improve the
health status of the community through
collaborative means. Representatives of this
group are dedicated to the health and
well-being of our community in the spirit
of collaboration. Partners include the
major health systems in San Antonio,
Metro Health, the YMCA of Greater San
Antonio, Community First Health Plans,
Methodist Healthcare Ministries and a
community representative. For more information,
visit www.healthcollaborative.net.
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