SC tops national obesity rate; Beaufort County below

People in the South and Appalachia are obese and suffering from diabetes at a greater rate than the rest of the country, according to a county-by-county survey of obesity and diabetes by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It comes as little surprise to two health care providers in Beaufort.

"We live in an obesogenic environment," said Dr. Clark Trask, founder of Medical Weight Loss of the Lowcountry in Beaufort. "We build neighborhoods without sidewalks, there is fast food on every corner, we work in stationary jobs and kids spend hours in front of the TV every day.

"There are a lot of factors playing against their health."

High rates of obesity and diabetes were seen in about 75 percent of counties in South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia and in 80 percent of the counties in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

The national obesity rate is about 26 percent.

South Carolina's rate was 30.1 percent. Orangeburg County had the highest rate-- 38.5 percent. Beaufort County had the lowest, at 20.5 percent, but that's still one in five people.

Bonnie Markle, a registered dietitian at LifeFit at Beaufort Memorial Hospital, said education about diet and exercise has to start in elementary school. "Kids come home from school and say, 'This is what I've learned, and this is what we should eat.' A lot of times, people aren't aware. Children can get the message through."

But there are a lot of habits to break.

"Lifestyle changes are really hard," Trask said. He starts those changes early in the day, at breakfast.

"Don't start your day with sugar -- cereal, bagels or sausage biscuits," he said. "I tell them to eat whole foods, which are things that grow, things that you can pick -- fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, beans and whole grains. Do Cheerios grow on St. Helena Island? No. Do breads grow there?"

His advice: Yogurt or a vegetable omelet for breakfast.

"I quote Thomas Jefferson: 'Eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch and a pauper for dinner.' "

But it's an uphill battle because processed foods are addictive, Trask said.

"I call them cigarette foods. We can't get enough of them, and we keep going back for them."

The great motivators, Trask and Markle find, are the risks of diabetes and heart disease.

"I set goals that are doable for them. It's small steps. It's not one-two-three," Markle said.

And success isn't a given. "They have to be ready for it."

Even more daunting: "It's their responsibility," Markle said.