Ohioans less healthy despite Healthy Ohioans program

The Associated Press has an article out today about the Healthy Ohioans program, which was started in 2000 to "persuade residents to improve their health, fitness and nutrition habits. The idea was to get schools, businesses and state agencies to promote exercise, better nutrition and an anti-smoking philosophy." (Source: "Ohioans fatter, sicker six years after health program launched," Sept. 17, 2007). However, the article states that on almost every indicator the program used, Ohioans are less healthy now than they were seven years ago.

The article says that heart disease is still the leading cause of death in Ohio (although its numbers have dropped slightly), while rates of diabetes, stroke, and obesity have increased since 2000. The only numbers that dropped significantly were smoking rates, which the article says were due to anti-smoking money from other programs. The Healthy Ohioans program only ever had a modest budget and many of the health issues affecting Ohio were beyond its reach and control. Despite that, former governor Bob Taft, who started Healthy Ohioans, says even if the program was "hampered by a lack of money" it still "raised awareness of health issues, especially among schoolchildren." Gov. Ted Strickland has folded the program into a similarly named Healthy Ohio, which has $4.4 million budget over two years. Early goals include $100,000 for a program in Cincinnati, trying to reduce obesity in minorities, and $500,000 for statewide grants to prevent and manage diabetes.

(Standard disclaimer: The article quotes me as spokesman of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.)