Being interested in healthcare, The Weight of the Nation caught my eye while I was flipping thought the channels the other night. This documentary portrays the wide-spread obesity epidemic and its serious implications on communities.

Did you know?  More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese. CDC.gov 

As I’m watching this horrifying film, I think about how much needs to change in order to reserve this epidemic. Entire systems need to be altered! Food system, education system, healthcare system, media, etc.  How do we even begin to combat this epidemic?

Then I think how local governments across the nation are adopting Sustainability Action Plans and how many of the causing factors of obesity can potentially be addressed by these plans. Sustainability Plans are intended to tackle a wide array of issues and attempt to bring balance between social, economic, and environmental factors. Sustainability is not exclusively about saving the environment; it is about sustaining an entire community, and that is why public health should be incorporated into these action plans.

I should mention that there are a few Sustainability Plans that do include a section on public health such as Sustainability Action Plan Framework of Newark, New Jersey.

Transportation and urban planning are good examples of key elements in most Sustainability Action Plans that also impact obesity. Clearly, making communities more walkable and bike-friendly will fight the current trends of obesity. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has started the NewPublic Health Strategies series, Better Transportation Options=Healthier Lives, to explore the ways in which transportation, education, and public health are interrelated.

The City of Spokane’s Sustainability Action Plan mission is “To deliver efficient and effective services that facilitate economic opportunity and enhance quality of life.” Perhaps public health is too large an issue to fully elaborate in a Sustainability Action Plan but to enhance the quality of life, public health must be considered.  Sustainability Action Plans will not have a direct impact on obesity rates but these Action Plans can be used as a catalyst for change. 

Other Resources:

• Walking and Biking: The Key to Reducing Risk of Obesity?
• An Alarmingly Strong Link Between Lack of Walkability and Diabetes
• Planning and creating healthy and sustainable cities: The challenge for the 21st century