Judging from my neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn, you'd never think America had a health problem. Even on Monday (May 21), a stormy day, a sheets-of-rain dumping associated with Tropical Storm Alberto, I darted outside during a lull and ran with Thurb in Prospect Park. In Park Slope, that's common. You'll find joggers and runners going up and down the Slope during all hours, especially in the warmer weather months like now. When you come upon overweight people on the street, or in cafes, etc., your first thought is: Hmm, must be an out of towner . . .
All of which, of course, helps me stay on course in my effort to keep healthy habits. If I'm surrounded by people jogging and eating well, etc., then it makes it easier to do so myself. Not just every-other day runs, alternating with cross-training days, but in nutritional choices. As I've written on the blog, I've been following the spirit of the diet prescriptions detailed in The Runner's Body http://bit.ly/MbZ8QR. I've also been enjoying higher energy levels, better sleeping, and most amazingly to me, an end to cravings for food and drink that do not fuel the runner's body: ie, trans-fat loaded potato chips, Diet Cokes, and more than one or two glasses of wine at night.
I have been blessed with a runner's body (my body mass index has been in the low 20s since my teens; normal range: 18.5 - 24.9). But now, in part because of the core and leg-muscle building I've been doing since early 2010, that BMI is more muscle than flab. And, more important, I feel myself getting stronger as I age. It's been a helluva motivator.
This kind of thinking is pretty common with a lot of people I talk to in Park Slope. But what about the rest of the country? What's going on?
As a new report http://bit.ly/HFmPCA by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on health in America's counties makes clear, just what you'd think. Not a pretty picture.
I can't do better than The Economist http://econ.st/GEVpLc in summing up: that the US is making progress in reducing smoking and in the toll of infectious disease, yet diabetes rates are climbing and tens of millions remain uninsured. Other killers: the five least-healthy counties had more than twice the teenage birth rate of the five healthiest counties, and more than twice the share of poor children.
Perhaps most surprising is how the counties report reveals the extent to which the US is now Obese Nation. Consider this: In Putnam, New York's healthiest county, 29 percent of adults are obese, compared with 28 percent in the Bronx, the state's least-healthy county. Also of note: Putnam has higher rates of binge drinking -- 21 percent compared with 14 percent in the Bronx.
If you've the means -- and the inclination -- you can stage your own secession from Obese Nation. Given my personal experience, I can tell you it's hard in the beginning, but well worth it to plant that flag.
Next: Running for Your Life: In Praise of Haruki
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