Michigan is overweight

MJR Newstalk

09 April 04

Following other recent state findings on the relative health of Michigan residents, the report said that fewer than half Michigan residents got the minimum amount of recommended exercise daily and that more than 62 percent of the adults in the state were overweight.

Wisdom later this month is expected to unveil proposals to help encourage healthier lifestyles among the state's 10 million residents.

But she said her report, "Healthy Michigan 2010" was the first of a number of initiatives the state would use to guide its efforts to encourage residents to quit smoking, exercise more, lose weight and develop other healthy habits.

The report is titled with the date 2010 because it is part of a state effort striving for healthier residents in 2010 - the last year of Granholm's second term, if she is re-elected.

The report found that better than 50 percent of state adults did not get a minimally recommended 30 minutes of physical exercise a day and that 25 percent did not participate in any physical activity.

An estimated 62 percent of adults were overweight or obese, and the report found a majority of adults and teens were also trying to lose or maintain their weight.

One good sign was that slightly fewer adults smoked in 2002 - a total of 24.1 percent - than in 2001, and smoking among high school students had fallen from 34.1 percent in 1999 to 27.6 percent in 2001. Still, Wisdom said the state sees nearly 16,000 tobacco-related deaths yearly, including 1,800 from exposure to second-hand smoke.

The study also found that while chronic diseases - such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and others - was the leading cause of death for both white and black residents, among African American men homicide was the third leading cause of death and the second leading cause of premature death.

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