Topeka ? The state budget isn’t the only place where legislators are looking to trim some fat.

Citing statistics that show obesity is the second-leading cause of preventable death, behind smoking but ahead of alcohol, some Kansas lawmakers this year are looking for ways to encourage people to adopt better eating and activity habits.

It’s a weighty issue that’s being addressed in at least 20 other states, with most of the focus on schoolchildren.

One of the biggest problems for politicians is that besides mandating changes in school lunches and pushing physical education classes, there’s not much they can do to legislate thinness.

Raising awareness

A first step, some say, is raising awareness of the public health problem.

“People don’t think about the long-term effect of super-sizing their fast-food meals, especially for children,” said Sen. David Haley of Kansas City, ranking Democrat on the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee. “There has to be at some point the realization that excess weight is just not good for longevity of life.”

Haley, one of 17 Kansans who attended a National Governors Assn. meeting on obesity in Chicago last year, said he came away from the three-day conference excited about tackling the issue.

“I’m calling on everyone in the Legislature and all facets of society to approach this issue seriously,” he said.

It’s a problem that goes beyond Kansas.

Two years ago, the Internal Revenue Service began allowing taxpayers to claim weight-loss expenses as a medical deduction. Around the same time, the World Health Organization issued a report that shifted focus from the amount of food people eat to the types of food they consume.

Among its recommendations, the WHO suggested limiting food advertising aimed at children and limiting fats, salt and sugary sodas.

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A recent national study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the research firm RTI International shows that 20 percent of Kansans are obese and 60 percent are at least overweight.

Kansans spent $657 million last year on obesity-related medical problems, the study said, of which $281 million was financed by Medicare or Medicaid.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said 57 percent of the state’s non-Hispanic white population is overweight or obese, as is 65 percent of the state’s Hispanic and black population.

Worldwide, 300 million people are obese and 750 million more are overweight, according to the International Obesity Task Force, a component of the World Health Organization. And the American Obesity Assn. estimates that nearly one-third of the U.S. population is obese.

People are considered obese if they have a body mass index of 30 or higher, while overweight is a BMI of 27 or greater. Body mass index is calculated using a formula that takes into account a person’s height and weight.

Obesity increases the risk of developing such conditions as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease and cancer of the breast, prostate and colon, the American Obesity Assn. said.

KDHE plans to further study the issue in schools with the help of funding from the nonprofit Sunflower Foundation, which provides grants for improving health in Kansas.

The foundation already has awarded about $1.8 million in grants for 23 projects in Kansas to address obesity.

“We learned that there is no coordination for developing a comprehensive approach to the problem in Kansas,” Billie Hall, who heads the Sunflower Foundation, told the Public Health and Welfare Committee last week.

“Projects are often implemented in isolation; few opportunities exist for sharing ‘best practices’ and reducing redundant efforts,” Hall said.

Sen. Jim Barnett, who is a physician, said besides the health problems associated with obesity, there’s a social stigma that often goes along with being overweight.

“Obese people have been shunned a long time,” said Barnett, R-Emporia. “We need to look at eating habits at home and school, physical activity and how much time kids are spending in front of the television.”

Barnett doesn’t think any legislation will be passed this year on obesity, but he says the issue is gaining momentum.

“This will be a multiyear process,” he said.