Health goes up in smoke
Cigarettes, lack of exercise put county’s older residents at risk
BY TERRY FLORES tflores@kenoshanews.com

    Pam Pendrick has always led an active life.
    While she’s in her late 60s now, in the spring and summer, she golfs and walks to stay healthy. During the winter months she takes her activities indoors working out in a low-impact hourlong exercise class three days a week at the Kenosha Senior Citizen’s Center. The class, which focuses on strengthening and toning muscles in a comfortable environment, provides a basic work out for seniors whose range of motion and physical fitness levels can be limited.
    “It gets us out three days a week and you go at your own pace and comfort level,” said Pendrick, who attends the classes with friends. “It’s good exercise, which I love, and sometimes I need that nudge. My husband passed away two years ago and I said to myself, ‘I’m not just going to sit around. I’m going to get out of the house.’”
    Despite a mishap in which she broke her pelvis a few months ago, Pendrick continues to be active. She doesn’t smoke and exercising motivates her “not to drink that whole gallon of milk in the refrigerator,” watching her weight, as well.
    Yet, that is not the case for many Kenosha county residents, baby boomers who’ve turned 60 and older adults, who continue to smoke twice as much as others their age in the state, have higher rates of obesity and exercise less — if at all — than their peers in nearby communities from Racine to Milwaukee. 
    Kenosha led all counties in southeast Wisconsin with the highest rate of cigarette smoking, or 21 percent of adults 60 and older who were surveyed over a six-year period from 2000 to 2005, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family data for behavioral risk factors re- leased last week.
    Kenosha residents also compared unfavorably in exercise, with nearly 31 percent of residents saying they did not exercise at all compared to 28 percent in the state. At 24 percent, Kenosha topped Racine and Milwaukee counties with the highest obesity rate, although it was slightly below the state average of 24.4 percent.
    In Kenosha County, adults 60 years and older comprise more than 15 percent of the total population, or 23,709 residents, according to 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
    Gary Brown, executive director for Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services Inc., whose agency serves the county’s older adults, said the survey results confirm what health professionals and many who work with aging populations have known for some time.
    “With smoking, we’re dealing with the power of the addiction because when we look at the data and are looking at the elderly, for example, despite all the information we know (to prevent it) we still have a higher percentage of smokers here,” Brown said.
    Brown, a baby boomer who turned 60 last year, said a lot of other factors are at work, including his generation having been exposed to the “glamour of smoking” that was fashionable when he was growing up. Brown said he remembers when theaters in Kenosha were filled with smoke and the same was true of the generation before him.
    “Not any more,” he said.
    While doctors, researchers and cancer prevention groups have spent the last three decades educating the public about the detriments of smoking and second-hand smoke, the idea that older adults pay more attention to diet and nutrition and exercise has also appeared to have taken a back seat until recent years.
    “On general trends, it doesn’t look like we’re seeing significant drops in any of the risk factors,” he said. “You might see that the smoking rates will dip from time to time, but that’s not necessarily because people are quitting. What it is is that they’re dying.”
    Brown, whose agency provides nutritious and balanced meals for senior citizens, said in the Meals on Wheels program, more than 29 percent of clients were obese, while 24.5 percent were overweight and close to 19 percent continued to smoke, according to a 2006 program survey. Eighty-five percent of the 102 people who took the survey were being treated for heart disease and 52 percent for diabetes. Close to 62 percent said they were diagnosed with three or more conditions. 
    What is promising, however, is that some older adults are heeding the call to a healthier life, said Brown. While his agency focuses on nutrition through Meals on Wheels and congregate meal programs, the connections are being made on the physical side with exercise programs at places like the Kenosha Senior Citizen’s Center.
    “You probably didn’t see that as much 10 years ago with regular exercise programs for seniors, but that’s happening because of information and awareness,” he said. “When you get down to the grassroots level, there are more people who have gotten involved with exercise because they’ve known they are going to improve the overall quality of their lives.” 
    Kenosha Senior Action Council President Allan Kehl, who is also the county executive, said the push to make older adults aware of the risks they take when they continue to smoke, fail to exercise and pay attention to their diets has always been a challenge.
    He said the recent partnership formed between the senior council and United Hospital Systems will be aimed not just at health management but staving off illnesses through prevention and education programs. The Senior Action Council is expected to have a permanent home at Kenosha Medical Center in the next two months, he said.
    “In having this, you have the opportunity with a facility where you can do it and programming to also help you do it at home,” he said. 
    Kehl, 61, said he also knows from personal experience the difficulties of kicking the habit of smoking and the addiction to nicotine from cigarettes. Before he took office in 1998, Kehl said he had quit smoking for a decade “cold turkey.” While he jogs weekly, usually during the spring and summer, the former sheriff said his exercise routine has dropped off considerably from his law enforcement days when workouts lasted two hours a day, seven days a week. He said late night meetings, coupled with sitting on the couch and watching TV to wind down have become a regular part of his routine.
    Kehl says his New Year’s resolution was to quit smoking this year, a plan that he’s delayed now until after the Super Bowl game. Instead of quitting cold turkey, however, this time he’s asked for help. His doctor has prescribed special pills, which he picked up Friday, and are designed to wean him off the nicotine.
    Knowing the high cost of health care in Kenosha, Kehl said his duty as an elected official is not lost on him, but he admits he’s had a difficult time finding opportunities to exercise and live a healthier lifestyle.
    “I’m no different from anyone else when it comes to this, am I? I guess I fit into all of those categories and that’s not so good,” he said, aware he can count himself among the county’s residents with unhealthy lifestyles. “That’s why I’m working on quitting smoking.”
    Meanwhile, Pam Pendrick said she looks forward to keeping active for as long as she can. In fact, she’ll be taking a trip soon to Florida where the warmer weather will allow her to participate in her favorite pasttime — golf during her vacation.
    While she can’t put her finger on the reason why some seniors don’t remain active, being among others who are keeps her going. At the senior citizen’s center, she said she can’t help but admire one man in class who regularly exercises while using his walker.
    “I know there are a few us out there who try to keep active, but I know it’s not enough. I wish there was a way to convince them. I know that I can say I feel better inside and outside when I’m going to classes, exercising and getting out,” she said.