Walk From Obesity helps woman shed pounds
Sunday, September 17, 2006
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
BYRON TOWNSHIP -- Striding along a sun-splashed park path Saturday morning, Kentwood resident Shelly Binder said a simple walk never felt so good.
"It's just so much nicer to have the energy, said Binder, 53, who has shed nearly 100 pounds in the past 14 months.
Now, instead of being dropped off at storefronts, she walks. She swims now, too.
And two weeks ago, she completed the five-mile Mackinac Bridge walk.
"That was an amazing accomplishment," she said.
Binder joined dozens of participants in the Walk From Obesity at Douglas Walker Park on Saturday. The event was organized by Michigan Medical PC and Spectrum Health.
Like Binder, many are patients of the medical weight-loss or surgical weight-loss programs offered by MMPC.
While those programs are targeted at patients at significant health risk from obesity, a recent survey by the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids found half of Kent County residents are overweight. The findings also show minority residents -- particularly young people -- are more likely to have weight problems.
The national picture is no better. As obesity continues to rise in younger Americans, the United States ranks No. 1 in the world for adult obesity.
As it spreads in other countries, world health experts warned this month obesity threatens to overwhelm health systems around the globe with illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.
The World Health Organization estimates 1 billion adults are overweight.
"We are definitely up against a fight," said Andy Retberg, an exercise physiologist who helped organize the event.
Walkers completed out-and-back treks of two or four miles.
While weight-loss surgery is considered a last resort for some, Retberg said there are less drastic remedies for this epidemic.
"It's a multifaceted issue. It has to do with the fast pace of lives, the fact that we are maybe not making the best decisions in regard to nutrition.
"From the activity side, we have so much technology that we don't have to be as physically active as our parents and grandparents did."
With a weight over 300 pounds, Grand Rapids resident Emily Horton, 28, turned to gastric bypass surgery in January.
She now weighs about 180 pounds and completed the two-mile walk with ease.
"I am about half the woman I used to be," Horton said.
Walk to fight obesity