Child obesity rates stay steady

Mar. 3, 2011, Fremont News-Messenger

By JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to the News-Messenger

Obesity rates among children statewide have stayed relatively steady, a new study from the Ohio Department of Health shows.

About 30 percent of Ohio's third-graders are either overweight or obese, according to the study, conducted during the current school year. This is the same rate found in a 2004 study.

However, some counties have seen great fluctuations. Sandusky and Coshocton counties, for example, had decreases of about 10 percent in overweight and obese children. Butler and Champaign counties had increases of about 15 percent.

Licking, Knox counties get funds to fight prescription drug abuse

Dec. 4, 2010, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

COLUMBUS — County Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health boards will split $5 million for opiate addiction treatment, Gov. Ted Strickland announced Friday.

The board for Licking and Knox counties will get $62,816, according to figures released by the governor’s office.

The funds come from a federal spending bill approved in August. Congress increased the federal contribution for Medicaid, which allowed states to spend those resources elsewhere.

Statewide effort under way to combat drug abuse

Apr. 22, 2010, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

COLUMBUS—State Rep. Dave Burke, R-Marion, has personal experience with the dangers of prescription-drug abuse—the drugstore he runs was robbed at gunpoint last month for its supply of oxycodone.

Burke was one of 25 people who came to the table Wednesday to discuss the epidemic of deaths by drug overdose. Gov. Ted Strickland created the Ohio Prescription Drug Task Force on April 9 to find ways to curb drug addictions. About 40 people are on the task force.

The task force brings together people from Ohio’s legislative, law enforcement and health communities and is aimed at finding viable and effective solutions.

Cigarette tax a tough sell at Statehouse

Apr. 6, 2010, Port Clinton News Herald

BY RUSS ZIMMER

AND JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to the News Herald

Health advocates are pushing tobacco taxes as both a way to dissuade smoking and a means to bridge the state budget shortfall, but campaign concerns may stall any tax increases.

A growing number of states have been leaning on smokers to help plug budget holes, but no such plan is in the works for Ohio. For now, anyway.

Cash-strapped states are considering or enacting cigarette tax increases at a pace that has only been equaled in 10 other years since 1950.

Risks, rewards of having a C-section

Jan. 11, 2010, Fremont News-Messenger

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to the News-Messenger

More than a quarter of the low-risk babies born in Ohio to first-time mothers are born by a Caesarian section.

There is a wide disparity in these numbers within state hospitals, according to 2008 data just released by the Ohio Department of Health. The rates range from 6.6 percent to 60 percent.

Women who undergo C-sections face the normal risks of surgery — infection, blood loss and an extended recovery time. Babies have a greater chance of respiratory problems or injury from the incision, medical professionals say.

Janet Runner, vice president of patient care services at Bellevue Hospital in Sandusky County, said even though the hospital’s C-section rate is higher than the state average, the mothers and babies have good outcomes.

“We have a system in place where we check all C-sections for appropriateness,” she said.

Ohioans have a choice to make: Fit or fat?

Jan. 7, 2010, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

It’s time to shape up, Ohio. The Buckeye State is tied for 10th in obesity among the 50 states.

Ohio has an obesity rate of 28.7 percent, and Licking County has a rate of 30.1 percent, according to the most recent data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The rate keeps going up, and it is causing medical professionals to worry what the lasting health consequences will be.

In Licking County, the obesity rate has increased four percentage points in three years. It’s an epidemic Dr. James Bacon at the Mid-Ohio Heart Clinic in Mansfield calls distressing.

“It’s a problem that really turns your stomach a bit,” Bacon said.

Fewer Ohioans lighting up than in past

Nov. 20, 2009, Port Clinton News Herald

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to the News Herald

Confronted with a public smoking ban, higher sin taxes and more anti-smoking efforts, fewer Ohioans are lighting up.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 20.2 percent of Ohioans smoked in 2008, a 7.5 percent decline from 2001, when Ohio ranked fourth in the country for smokers. The CDC data goes back to 1998, when the smoking rate was 26.2.

Ohio now has the 17th-highest rate of smokers, according to the study. The CDC reports that 21.5 percent of men in Ohio smoked and 19 percent of women.