Editorial: The health of Spokane starts with long view
Think public health, and missions like disease control, and food and water testing come to mind.
But for the Spokane Regional Health District, those important programs have become secondary to changing behaviors that create long-term risks for individuals, and long-term costs for communities. Smoking, the most obvious example, claims the lives of thousands in the United States who eventually succumb to heart and lung ailments.
The total cost to society exceeds $200 billion for treatment, and in lost productivity.
New laws and regulations, high taxation, and widespread education efforts have turned the tide against the tobacco scourge, although there are worrisome reports that younger Americans are picking up a bad habit their parents set aside.
Meanwhile, obesity has rapidly supplanted tobacco as the greatest threat to public health in the U.S.
From just 10 percent of the population 20 years ago, the share of adults nationally, in Washington, and in Spokane County considered obese has climbed to 27 percent. Another 35 percent are overweight, the divide depending on the proportion of body mass that is fat.
The cost of treating diabetes and other consequences of obesity is approaching $200 billion. Lost productivity is an estimated $45 billion.
The Health District, in conjunction with area school districts and other partners, has responded with several initiatives intended to promote exercise and the consumption of healthier foods, the two cornerstones of a healthier lifestyle. The share of the district’s general fund dedicated to these efforts has more than tripled in just three years, which somewhat reflects the sacrificing of other worthy but no longer affordable programs.
The focus on obesity is, in part, a recognition the district does not have the resources to treat individuals, so the emphasis has shifted to prevention.
Cindy Green, the Health District official overseeing obesity-related programs, says there have already been successes in the schools, where pop has been replaced with less-sweetened beverages, and menus feature more vegetables and fruits.
In the West Central area, considered a “food desert” for lack of grocery outlets, two small stores have increased their stocks of those foods. The district is also encouraging community gardens and teaching farms, which it maps – along with a trove of other information – on its website.
To encourage exercise, the district is supporting – not always with strong municipal backing – complete streets amenable to bikes and pedestrians. In Spokane Valley, “Safe Routes to Schools” is identifying traffic risks and other hazards that discourage walking and biking to schools. The theory: If residents feel safe, they will step out of their automotive cocoons and get exercise that, as Green says, “has been engineered out of our lives.”
If the path of least resistance is the sidewalk, and the destination is a vegetable stand, the behaviors the district wants to encourage for everyone will be that much easier to follow. And cheaper for all of us.