CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It's 'World Obesity Day,' an effort to raise awareness about the disease.
You may remember back in 2010, Corpus Christi was named 'fattest city in America' by Men's Health magazine.
This year, San Antonio tops that list.
So how are we doing in Corpus Christi?
There is good news. In just the last nine months, our obesity rating has declined according to the Public Health District but we still have a ways to go.
Dr. Brandi Addison, a clinical endocrinologist with South Texas Endocrinology and Metabolism, just returned from an obesity conference and explained who's most at risk.
"African American females, as well as, Hispanic males are the top leaders when it comes to overweight and obesity and then Hispanic females are right behind that," Addison said. "You don't say that the patient is obese, you say that the patient has obesity because obesity doesn't define the person. It's just a disease state that they're living with."
Addison said new weight loss drugs are obscuring healthy treatments for obesity.
"There's some that have really good results where we see adipose tissues reduced," she said. "We see improvement from a cardio metabolic standpoint with improvement in your HDL, your blood pressure, driving down your triglycerides. You can't say that all drugs in these classes do that."
The director of the City County Public Health Department, Dr. Fausia Kahn, said a year ago 40 percent of adults in the county were suffering from obesity compared to a national average of just 30 percent.
"We have seen a slight decline in obesity rates in Nueces County in the past year," Kahn said. "What the health district is doing is a new initiative. We are bringing fitness classes and fitness events into the community in public neighborhoods, so we are going to do five such events this year."
Addison said there are still many physicians who view obesity as a choice of nutrition rather than an affliction.
"We expect that by 2030 that 50 percent of the population will be living with obesity, so this is really a call to action particularly on a day like today where we're celebrating obesity and the need to make interventions and improve patient health," Addison said.
She said if you feel you need more help with obesity, you may need to find a board certified obesity medicine physician.
For more information on city sponsored health events coming up this year, click here.
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