DuPage coalition moves forward in obesity fight

DuPage may be one of the healthiest counties in the state, but that doesn’t make it immune to the obesity epidemic.

One in three schoolchildren and up to 65 percent of adults in DuPage are at risk for being overweight or obese, experts say.

“We’ve got work to do,” said Ann W. Marchetti, director of the countywide anti-obesity campaign called FORWARD, or Fighting Obesity Reaching Healthy Weight Among Residents of DuPage.

In just two years, the broad-based community coalition has grown to 350 individual and organization members.

The group met Thursday in Wheaton for an update on efforts to help families achieve a healthy lifestyle.

With anti-obesity momentum mounting nationally, in part due to first lady Michelle Obama’s crusade, “clearly, the stars are aligned for us to move forward in a very meaningful way,” Dr. James Galloway, Assistant U.S. Surgeon General, told the group.

But it will take more than just good programs, Marchetti said. Barriers to a healthy lifestyle must be removed, whether it’s adding a light and a crosswalk on a busy street that separates a subdivision from a park or making refrigerators available so children in after-school programs can snack on fresh fruit and yogurt.

“Unless the choice is the easy choice for families, they’re not going to do it,” Marchetti said.

FORWARD will be monitoring obesity prevalence in more than 90 percent of DuPage County schools during the 2011-2012 school year. But already, examination of 14,000 student records confirms one-third of children weigh too much.

The coalition focused its first efforts on five DuPage County communities with YMCAs — Lombard, Naperville, Glen Ellyn, Downers Grove and Elmhurst.

“We went where the Ys are physically set,” Marchetti said. ”Now we are looking at lower socioeconomic communities.”

The next five towns on FORWARD’s list are Addison, Aurora, West Chicago, Villa Park and Woodridge.

Jay Wocjik, executive director of Healthy Lombard, talked about the local group’s efforts.

Lombard’s latest initiative in Stepping Up to Summer, which will run from the end of June through July. Participants will receive odometers, and those who walk at least 100,000 steps during the time period will be entered into a raffle to win an Xbox 360 donated by Best Buy, a Healthy Lombard partner.

In West Chicago, 484 schoolchildren qualified for a one-day family pass to the park district swimming pool by completing an activity log. The park district is working with Central DuPage Hospital to create trail fitness activities in Easton Park using natural materials, such as logs and rocks.

Among FORWARD’s “big ideas” is working with school districts to improve the health of school lunches ahead of the federal mandate.

“Why wait five years?” Marchetti asked. Simple changes, such as putting healthy choices first in the cafeteria line, can change behavior.

Other ideas mentioned Thursday include improving access to DuPage County’s extensive system of bike paths and walking trails and easing regulations on roadside farmstands selling fresh fruit and vegetables.

While the overall obesity rate in DuPage mirrors the national average, there are some differences from town to town.

The coalition divides the county into five regions based on the YMCA’s service areas. The Central East region (Lombard, Villa Park and Oakbrook Terrace) has the highest rate of overweight or obese children; the Southeast Region (Oak Brook, Hinsdale, Downers Grove and eight other suburbs) the lowest.