Tour:Smart - Martin Atkins at Avant Garden Tonight.
H-Town Rock
Missed Connections: November 2 - 5
Daily-ist Thursday: River Oaks Theater 70th Anniversary Celebration
Get sticky at Lawndale's Sugar Skull workshop
Back in 2001, Men's Fitness magazine declared Houston the "Fattest City in America." Then-mayor Lee Brown, not hewing to the Hollywood adage that any publicity is good publicity so long as they spell your name right, promptly sent a delegation to Philadelphia, the previous year's champ, to discover how they had shed their title as The City of Blubbery Love.
When Houston retained the crown the following year, out came the big guns. Jared Fogle visited City Hall to kick off a weight-loss partnership between the city and Subway. Lee Labrada, proud UH alum, former Mr. Universe, and star of such exercise videos as "I Want to Pump You Up" and "Mass with Class," was named the city's first Fitness Czar.
Houston retained the top spot for two of the next three years.
In January 2005, Mayor Bill White appeared on the Today show to decry the Men's Fitness rankings as having been "calculated with voodoo and fraud." (The magazine's editors, for their part, conceded that the rankings were far from scientific, being a subjective amalgam of such factors as density of fast food restaurants, amount of television viewing, and average commute time.) In a nifty bit of political jujitsu, White also created the Mayor's Wellness Council, a group of civic leaders and health and fitness professionals, to encourage Houstonians to make better choices regarding their exercise and diet. The mayor might not have agreed with the Men's Fitness list, but he didn't want to be on it, either.
If you create a Wellness Council, then you've got to have an annual symposium, and that's exactly what took place last week at Minute Maid Park. As heavy machinery stalked the field, setting up the stage for the Madonna concert on Sunday, nearly 400 health professionals and educators crowded into Union Station to hear a series of presentations about the obesity epidemic. This was preaching to the choir, made easier by the lack of controversy about the statistics: Americans—and Houstonians—are getting fatter, with numerous attendant health risks ranging from vascular disease to diabetes to sleep apnea.
Upstairs, where the vendors held sway, it was all about the swag. Houstonist is amazed at how, even at message-driven events, vendors can be so tone-deaf. Green Mountain Energy—is there any event they won't attend?—had a basket full of fun size candy on its table. When Houstonist pointed out the irony of passing out candy during an obesity summit, the twentysomething sales rep sheepishly admitted, "I know, I just thought of that. But what am I supposed to do? People have been grabbing it."
The Houston Texans, a co-sponsor of the symposium, also had a table of tchotchkes. A picture of the Texans cheerleaders? Sure! Raffle ticket for a signed football? Step right up! A discussion on whether the Texans would offer healthy alternatives to the usual stadium fare? "That is a great question. I'll be sure to bring it up at our next meeting." We won't hold our breath. Houstonist likes hot dogs and ballpark nachos as much as the next person, but c'mon now, Texans—why are you sponsoring an anti-obesity summit if you can't discuss a single thing you're doing to fight obesity?
Midway through the symposium, the organizers declared it a rousing success, which got us thinking. How do you define success at an event like this? While no one made specific references to the incoming Obama administration or a national health care system, nearly every speaker emphasized how a renewed focus on preventative care (e.g., eating more healthily, getting more exercise) would improve the health of Houstonians and reduce the cost of medical care for all.
In one way at least, change has already come to the Bayou City. According to Men's Fitness, Houston is now only the 10th-fattest city in America. And the 2009 rankings come out in January.
For more information about the Mayor's Wellness Council or its Get Moving Houston program: www.getmovinghouston.com
For more information about the Houston Wellness Association, a private-sector wellness initiative developed by the Wellness Council: www.houstonwellness.org
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It's interesting how organizers of events like this don't pay attention to ironies like passing out candy. Oops!