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Nation's weight crisis hits home

Many Thurston County residents struggle with diets, pills and exercise — and some turn to surgery

By Keri Brenner | The olympian • Published January 21, 2007

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Sedentary lifestyles, increased "stress eating," larger portion sizes, more restaurant and fast-food visits, low socioeconomic status, metal toxicities, lengthy commutes and lack of free time to cook healthy food all are part of the dynamic, researchers say.

"Twice as much time is spent in cars as 20 years ago, due to commutes from the suburbs," said Dr. David Heber, director of the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Human Nutrition and Risk Factor Obesity Program, in an interview with The Olympian. "Americans watch an average of seven hours a day of television."

'Stress eating' and toxins

Emotionally, a lack of personal empowerment contributes to "stress eating" and higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol circulating in the body, said Virginia Hadley, an Olympia herbalist, nutritionist and registered nurse.

"Cortisol and the effects of stress contribute more than most people realize to the development of metabolic syndrome" and adult-onset diabetes, Hadley said. Metabolic syndrome is described by medical professionals as a cluster of disease states, including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides (fatty acids in the bloodstream), low HDL ("good") cholesterol and obesity.

Hadley said that toxic chemicals from the environment also can contribute to obesity.

"Metal toxicity and other environmental pollutants create a situation where our body needs to protect us," Hadley said. "Toxins are diluted with extra water in the tissues, then stored into fat cells if the toxic compounds can't be excreted fast enough."

The way we eat also is a factor.

Deborah Kesten, a Tacoma nutrition researcher, educator and author, said she has identified six eating behaviors that lead to obesity. The behaviors were in the results of a 2003 study Kesten ran with her husband, Larry Scherwitz, director of clinical sciences at AIBMR, a natural products research institute in Puyallup.

Those behaviors are: eating alone; not tasting food; eating processed food; eating out of negative emotions; doing other things while eating; and not appreciating food or where it came from.