AOA recently took steps to fill a major public health policy void regarding women and obesity. On March 31, AOA submitted comments on a draft of Women Living Long, Living Well (WLLLW), a document of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that is designed to promote women’s health, research and education.
WLLLW Objectives
DHHS’s Coordinating Committee on Women’s Health is responsible for meeting six objectives:
Identify the three most significant means to reach and maintain the goal of a long, healthy life for a woman and the barriers to reaching that goal.
Pinpoint the critical prevention and intervention point in each stage of life that promotes good health in subsequent stages.
Highlight the single most important activity DHHS needs to undertake, in partnership with communities, to address these issues.
Determine a primary gap in women’s health activities within the DHHS, and the two or three specific strategies to address this gap.
Identify innovative activities in which DHHS should be involved.
Determine how women’s health should be organized and incorporated into the structure of the DHHS.
AOA Executive Director Morgan Downey pointed out that more than
half of adult U.S. women are overweight or obese, having a body mass index (BMI) of at least 25.
"The prevalence of overweight and obesity affects women of all ages more today than ever before." said Downey.
To support his argument, Downey submitted a graph showing that the prevalence of overweight increases with a woman’s age. Also submitted was a graph illustrating the increase of obesity prevalence for middle-aged women over a 34 year time period
Although Downey commended the coordinating committee for acknowledging the lack of critical data and need to focus on obesity, he emphasized that, "acknowledgment of a problem existing is only the first step in making progress. More objectives are needed, strategies must be outlined and a clear structure must be defined to set the wheels of action in motion."
AOA Recommendations
In response to the WLLLW objectives, Downey outlined AOA’s six recommendations.
Overweight and obesity are major barriers to a woman’s long and healthy life, and priority must be given to prevention and intervention strategies.
Although obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death, it is clearly overlooked in the WLLLW draft. Achieving a healthy weight is critical to good health at each stage of life.
Partnership with communities can be useful in developing effective obesity education campaigns for women that are backed by sound scientific evidence and avoid confusing mixed messages about obesity and weight control.
Expanding research and providing access to quality health services for persons with obesity can help bridge the gap in public understanding.
Research is needed on the impact of obesity on women’s health. Innovative public service campaigns, such as AOA’s Weight Wellness Week, can bring much needed attention to research findings on obesity-related health issues, including breast and endometrial cancer, gall bladder disease, infertility, obstetric and gynecologic complications, and urinary stress incontinence.
A Task Force on Obesity and Women’s Health should be created to focus on the effect that overweight and obesity have on the ability of women to live long and live well.
Disparities Cited
Although the overweight and obesity prevalence rate has risen in virtually all ethnic, racial and socioeconomic populations, in both genders and in all age groups, the impact on the female population has been particularly pronounced. Within the last two decades alone, the prevalence rate increased for all women, aged 20 to 74, regardless of race or ethnic group.
By the year 2050, according to the WLLLW draft, almost half of all women will be from an ethnic minority group. Obesity researchers have found that the prevalence of obesity in many minority populations is more than three times that of whites.
The most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, covering the period from 1988 to 1994, reveals higher rates of overweight and obesity prevalence in non-Hispanic black and Mexican American women than in non-Hispanic white women. Low income women in some minority populations appear most likely to be overweight.
Reflecting the statement of national health goals in Healthy People, WLLLW seeks to address the major causes of death and disability among U.S. women of all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. AOA’s comments provide scientific data to demonstrate the devastating impact of obesity and the need for a renewed commitment to reverse the steady rise in its prevalence.
For more information about WLLLW, visit the website: www.4woman.gov/owh/pub/wlllw
