Health officials release state plan to reduce obesity

Posted on: 7/22/22

Over the last two decades, many states have seen a steady rise in obesity rates, including Oklahoma. Across the nation, 31.9% of the adult population are considered obese compared to 36.4% of adults in Oklahoma, which equates to approximately one million adults in our state having obesity.

In 2019, the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) engaged in a year-long process, bringing to the table partners from across the state to develop a State Obesity Plan.

“The plan focuses on strategies for each age group, which can make a direct impact on the environment contributing to chronic health conditions, with a particular focus on obesity,” said Fahad Khan, director of community analysis. 

While personal responsibility will always be a component of weight management, the plan aims to identify environmental changes that will make it easier for all Oklahomans to choose to be healthier, and to encourage healthy habits and behaviors. This plan also aims to put resources and education in the hands of Oklahomans so the decisions they make can be well informed, but also supported by the environment in which they live.

The work on the plan paused during most of the COVID-19 pandemic but reconvened in late 2021 and grew from 30 to more than 200 partners from a variety of agencies. In the planning process, stakeholders collaborated to provide input, with their expertise, to develop a plan to address the rise in obesity through someone’s lifetime. 

This plan is important now more than ever as emerging data suggests the COVID-19 pandemic worsened underlying social, economic, and environmental barriers to healthy eating and physical activity. Those factors consequently resulted in many Americans, including Oklahomans, likely gaining weight during the pandemic.

The State Obesity Plan can be found here.