Nearly one in three children, and nearly one in two adults in Marin are overweight or obese. Marin County healthcare providers see the impact of obesity every day, across the age spectrum. Obesity is a model condition for partnership between public health and clinical medicine because it is preventable and curable, and it is an epidemic. As one important step in combating obesity, health practitioners in Marin County are working to limit the harmful consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (soda sweetened with sugar, corn syrup, or other caloric sweeteners including sweetened juices, sports and energy drinks).
According to the CDC, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is a major driver of the obesity epidemic. Over the past decade, per capita intake of calories from sugar-sweetened beverages has increased by nearly 30% nationally, partly due to marketing strategies targeted to children and adolescents.
This summer, Marin County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), supported by a resolution from the county Board of Supervisors, will be partnering with LIFT-Levantate and the Marin City Community Services District to promote the “Soda Free Summer.” The Soda Free Summer includes measures to educate residents on how to read labels for the amount of sugar in beverages and how to make healthier drinks with water, fresh fruit and herbs. “Rethink Your Drink” events will be held through the summer at a variety of community based organizations and summer programs for youth. In addition, HHS will be working with community leaders in the Canal and Marin City through the Communities of Excellence in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention project, to examine retail marketing, product availability and pricing to help reduce access to sugar-sweetened beverages.
Health care providers play a vital role in reinforcing healthy eating and active living messages in each encounter. Combined with upstream interventions like the Soda Free Summer we can begin to reverse the growing burden of obesity, as a more integrated Health System.