Front Range residents are some of the healthiest people in U.S. cities – leaner, more active and less likely to develop adult diabetes.
Still, obesity rates are creeping up, 15 percent of adults lack any health care coverage and we don’t eat enough veggies, according to a new report by the Metro Denver Health and Wellness Commission.
Metropolitan Denver took the top spot among 25 U.S. cities in a combined ranking that included obesity, eating habits, physical activity and heath care coverage, according to the commission.
The commission – consisting of business, government, health care and nonprofit leaders – said it hoped the report would foster a focus on maintaining and improving the area’s healthy status and using it to attract business here.
“This is truly a competitive advantage for metro Denver, and we do not want to lose that competitive position,” said Tom Clark, commission co-chairman and executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.
Better overall health doesn’t necessarily translate into lower health care costs, however, said Lew Emanuelson, a vice president with insurance provider Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado.
A company’s health insurance costs depend on an array of variables, including the age of employees, the local cost of health care and the population’s tendency to use health care.
“Here, we have a very, very sophisticated health care delivery system, and it is not low cost, in spite of us being healthy,” Emanuelson said.
There are no obvious medical factors that make Colorado or the Front Range a particularly healthy place to live, said Mark Sally, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Health and the Environment.
“Part of it is self-selection,” Sally said. “Colorado has an attractive environment, and it’s a state that active people like to be in.”
The median age in the Denver metro area was in the middle of the 25 regions – 33.8 in the 2000 census, with other cities ranging from 28.6 to 40.
Among the findings in the new report on the metro area – including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties:
Less than 5 percent of adults have diabetes, compared with 11 percent in San Antonio and 8 percent in Cleveland.
The percentage of Denver metro adults at a healthy weight fell 9.2 percentage points between 1995 and 2005.
Nearly 75 percent of adults here consume fewer than five servings of fruit and vegetables daily – San Franciscans did better, with less than 69 percent of adults failing to meet the recommendation.
About 54 percent of adults are overweight or obese, compared with 65 percent in Houston.
The cost of obesity in the workplace is well known, Clark said.
“People who are obese are absent 37 percent more frequently with health-related problems and have twice the number of accidents on the job,” he said.
Metro Denver’s overweight/obesity percentage was second lowest to San Francisco with 52 percent, the report said.
That means adults in both cities have pounds to shed, Clark said.
Staff writer Katy Human can be reached at 303-954-1910 or khuman@denverpost.com.
