Dept. Of Health Outlines New Plan To Fight Obesity

The Oklahoma State Department of Health announced it would be releasing a new plan to overhaul the state’s approach to fighting obesity, signaling major shifts for many Oklahomans.

According to State of Childhood Obesity, 1 in 3 Oklahoma adults are obese and 1 in 5 children are obese. The OSDH said obesity is linked to many potentially life-threatening condition and diseases including hypertension, diabetes and cancers. Officials also estimate obesity costs Oklahomans $1 billion each year.

According to the announcement, OSDH officials began working with dozens of partners more than a year ago on the plan that calls for changes to education, infrastructure and health care policy.

“It will take a coordinated and targeted community health approach that will improve the health and quality of life for Oklahomans,” Health Commissioner Gary Cox said.

Few details were released in the outline of the plan, but among the list of new initiatives were changes to nutrition and physical activity in schools, increasing resources for older adults, increasing access to healthcare and improving walking and biking infrastructure.

The official plan is expected to be released in the coming weeks according to the announcement.