Forget the fact that Jello is perceived to have religious and cultural significance in our state, or that the headquarters for Mrs. Fields' patented cookie smells is located here.
Forget the fact that the Utah Dairy Commission says Utahns eat about 7.4 gallons of ice cream every year - nearly double-scooping the national average of 4 gallons per person. And that this is a state - perhaps the only state - where residents can find an ice cream store, rather than a bar-and-grill, on every corner.It's in to be thin in Utah, according to a survey released by the national Center for Disease Control. The study contradicts the commonly held perception in Utah that we're, ahem, a little hefty and that we've got, ahem, a little bit of a sweet-tooth problem.
The survey, based on questioning 47,975 adults about their height and weight to compile a "body mass index," says people in the Northeast and West report they are thinner than Midwesterners and Southerners do.
And Utah is the third to the slimmest state in the nation among the 32 surveyed, joined by its Western neighbors of New Mexico, Hawaii, Montana and Arizona in the Slim-and-Trim Hall of Fame.
The five heaviest states in the self-reported survey are Indiana, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Ohio and North Dakota. Some 25.7 percent of adults in Indiana and Wisconsin report being overweight. That contrasts to the only 16.6 percent of Utahns who claim they tip the scales.
"I find that hard to believe," said Judy Breeze, nutrition coordinator of the American Heart Association's Slim for Life program in Salt Lake City. "I am seeing a lot of heavy people."
Breeze is one of several local health professionals who question the validity of the CDC's scales when bragging about Utahns' figures.
Breeze said about 1,200 Utahns attend one of the 50 classes the heart association offers on a quarterly basis. Most Slim-for-Lifers have at least 20 or more pounds to lose, and many of the pleasantly plump crowd claim noshing on high-calorie snack foods is a problem.
Karen Barker, a registered dietitian for the Utah Diary Commission, also questioned the survey proclaiming Utah as a national low-fat zone.
"I have a real hard time believing that. If anything, I would have said the opposite." Barker is the dietitian who says Utahns can't throw a meeting without the obligatory punch-and-cookies.
She said she's done a lot of client counseling and finds people don't like to fess up to their sweet habits. The all-too-familiar refrain: "I don't eat any chocolate at all" makes her suspicious of self-reported surveys.
Tim Butler, director of LDS Hospital's Optifast program, agrees that Utah can claim its fair share of obese people - probably more than statistics reveal.
"Certainly we have plenty. Any doctor could tell you that." After Optifast's first year, the expensive medical program that combines a liquid diet with rehabilitation counseling for medically at risk obese patients claims 300 graduates.
But other health experts take stock in the CDC figures. "Encouraging," is how Maggie Chaney, a nutritionist for the state Department of Health, terms the survey. "I do think people are much more health conscious than they have been in the past and are trying to lose weight."
Doug Vilnius, director of the bureau of health promotion and risk reduction for the state Department of Health, acknowledges that a common misperception tags Utah with the plague of a weighty girth problem. In the department's own statistics using the old Metropolitan Life insurance weight scales, 22 percent of Utahns claimed they were at least 120 percent of their ideal weight last year
But he suggests that Utahns don't view themselves very accurately. And he supports the sophisticated statistical analysis of the CDC study.
"You go to a shopping mall and what do you see? Do you see a cross section of the state?" he asked, answering his own question with a "no." (Maybe that's because slim people are out jogging instead of shopping or hanging out at a mall's food court.)
In general, according to Vilnius, the state's rural areas harbor more strenuous jobs and a thinner population, balancing the numbers of fatter, more sedentary, urban residents.
Vilnius is just guessing, but he thinks one reason why Utah rates so slim is that our climate and outdoor-oriented lifestyle encourages year-round recreational opportunities. Although the CDC study doesn't show it, Vilnuius thinks a high number of Utahns exercise.
But statistics do establish Utah as a healthy state, he said. In studies compiling the leading causes of lifestyle-related deaths, Utah has a winning edge. In fact, the state has lost federal grant funding because residents are too healthy.
But what of those who tempt Utahns daily with sumptuous offerings of double-chocolate fudge or strawberry cheesecake?
Richard Snelgrove, president of Snelgrove Ice Cream Co. Inc., said he thinks the common perception that we're a fat state is a misconception. "I'll tell you. I think Utahns are the ones most critical of themselves and judge ourselves more harshly."
Both Snelgrove and John Schmidt, district manager for Baskin Robbins and its 31-derful flavors, say customers are following the national trend to consume more frozen yogurt and lighter ice cream products.
"We actually get a broad base of everybody," said Schmidt, who has just shed 30 pounds of his own, and shies away from calling any customer fat. "We get overweight people. We get underweight people. Short, tall, we get them all."
Snelgrove concurs. "We have them (customers) in all shapes and sizes."
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(Additional information)
Ideal weights
Desirable weight for men and women, age 25 or older, based on the Metropolitan Insurance Co. tables.
MEN (Medium Frame)
Height:Weight
5'6" 134
5'8" 142
5'10' 151
6" 160
6'2" 169
6'4" 178
WOMEN (Medium Frame)
Height: Weight:
4'10" 103
5' 109
5'2" 116
5'4" 124
5'6' 132
5'8" 140