By Tabitha Goodling
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series.
DANVILLE — More and more waistlines are expanding across the state, and research in the borough may help determine why Pennsylvania residents keep getting heavier.
The population of central Pennsylvania happens to be a good place to begin studying this rapidly growing problem, according to Dr. Christopher Still, new director of the Geisinger Obesity Institute.
That’s because all aspects of obesity are here, he said.
“There is a very stable population who unfortunately are very heavy,” he added.
More than a quarter of Pennsylvanians are obese, or have a Body Mass Index higher than 30, Still said.
In fact, the state is the 19th heaviest state in the nation, according to a report from Trust for America’s Health. Recent statistics from the Pennsylvania Department of Health reveal the counties of Snyder, Union, Northumberland, Montour as well as Centre and Columbia have 26 percent obesity rates. Mifflin and Juniata counties have 29 percent obesity rates.
An accurate determination of weight is not necessarily gained by climbing on the bathroom scale. Rather it’s the Body Mass Index of the individual that can give the most accurate assessment.
New research is also looking more closely at the waist-hip ratio and how it could possibly be a better indicator than BMI of mortality risk in older people.
Someone with a BMI of 25-29 is considered overweight. A BMI of 30-40 is obese while 40 and higher is morbidly obese. To determine your BMI, go to: www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/index.htm.
The average patient for extensive surgery such as gastric bypass surgery at Geisinger often has a BMI higher than 45.
People generally have no idea what is really fat, Still said. For instance, a 6-foot-tall man weighing 220 pounds is considered obese, according to the BMI calculator. He has a Body Mass Index over 30.
But “we think a guy who’s 6-foot and over 200 pounds is the norm,” Still said. “We’re skewed in central Pennsylvania.”
Coming Tuesday: Can obesity be blamed on a gene?
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Institute takes new approach
Although an obesity clinic has existed at Geisinger since the early 1990s, the Geisinger Obesity Institute is new and incorporates several clinical and research branches of the Geisinger system under one umbrella. Seed money from the Geisinger Clinic will fund the program. It began operations in July.
The director, Dr. Christopher Still, is the author of “Weight Management: Adults.” He operates his own clinical program with The Center for Nutrition and Weight Management, which is part of the institute. Still will oversee research and results from studies.
Such studies through the institute will analyze genetic links to weight problems that ultimately cause Type 2 diabetes, liver disease, sleep apnea and other health concerns. Environment will be another key factor that will be analyzed by the institute. How people who are overweight respond to the world around them as well as the impact on the pediatric/adolescent population will be examined.
The institute incorporates several clinical and research branches of the Geisinger system under one umbrella.
The layers of the institute that work together in the field of research are as follows:
-- Sigmund Weis Research Center — covers the genetic and molecular studies of the disease.
--Henry Hood Center for Rural Health — examines the study of the patient’s environment.
-- Center for Clinical Trials — incorporates medicine and other medical help to aid patients dealing with obesity.
-- Department of Research and Studies — involves the 41 Geisinger-run clinics across central Pennsylvania.
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