Obesity in Maine

After reading the article regarding Maine’s growing obesity problems (BDN, Aug. 28), which now is reported to be at a dismal 33rd highest rate in the country, I question why more isn’t being done to combat this ever-growing epidemic in our communities.

Maine has the highest obesity rate of any New England state, as recently quoted by Dora Mills, the state’s public health director, and has an infrastructure which is more rural and therefore less conducive to walking. Isn’t living in a rural area, where one needs only to step outside their door to get the exercise they so need, a plus?

The argument that the more affluent members of our society can more easily afford the higher cost of nutritious food doesn’t always ring true either. The next time you head to the grocery store, check out the shopping cart next to you. Many times it is filled with frozen dinners, frozen fried chicken and pizza. Compare the price of all that frozen junk with the cost of preparing a simple wholesome dinner. Junk food is not as cheap as you might imagine, only easier. What is needed here is not more money, but more education.

We should consider ourselves fortunate that we live in a rural area, where many of us have a backyard that can be utilized to grow vegetables in the summer months. But, when one views the more rural areas of our community, there are so few gardens, which offer not only healthy food, but calorie burning exercise in the care that goes into maintaining them.

There are no easy answers to the obesity problem that Maine and our entire country is facing. It didn’t happen overnight and will not go away until we can honestly examine our way of life and vow to make changes, not just for ourselves, but for the sake of our children who depend on us to guide them.

Nancy L. Bouvier

Montville