Ohio State University Extension

This article is online at http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=3003

 

01/13/2005

Ohioans Show Concern About Obesity, Water Quality Issues

Writer:

Martha Filipic
filipic.3@osu.edu
(614) 292-9833

Source:

Jeff Sharp, Human and Community Resource Development
sharp.123@osu.edu
(614) 292-9410


COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Rising obesity rates among Americans and pollution of rivers and streams top the list of Ohioans' food-, farm- and environmental concerns, according to the second biennial Ohio Survey of Food, Agriculture and Environmental issues.

Results of the mail survey, conducted during late summer of 2004, will be presented at meetings and conferences throughout this year, said Jeff Sharp, rural sociologist with Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. He will discuss some of the findings on Jan. 20 at the Ohio Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Congress in Toledo.

"Our goal is to observe changes over time, as well as to watch for new issues of concern to Ohioans," said Sharp, who is also an associate professor in Ohio State's Department of Human and Community Resource Development. "When we first did the survey in 2002, we didn't ask questions about obesity or other health issues, but we decided to do so this time because of the growing interest in those issues."

The researchers' instincts appear to be on target. Responding to a list of nine issues related to food, agriculture and the environment, 69 percent of survey participants said they were "very concerned" about "rising obesity among Americans." In addition, 65 percent were very concerned about "pollution of Ohio's rivers, streams and groundwater." "That's consistent with our findings in 2002," Sharp said.

In comparison, 60 percent of survey respondents said they were "very concerned about the "loss of family farm"; 55 percent, "loss of farmland as a result of urban growth"; 54 percent, "genetic modification of animals"; 42 percent, "mad cow disease"; 33 percent, "genetic modification of plants"; 29 percent, "global warming or the 'greenhouse effect'"; and 29 percent, "development of large-scale poultry and livestock production facilities in Ohio."

"Statewide, large-scale livestock facilities were a relatively low-ranking concern. But there were regional differences, with over 40 percent of northwest Ohio residents indicating they were very concerned with this issue and only 23 percent of southwest Ohioans indicating they were very concerned," Sharp said.

Questions about large-scale livestock facilities were asked differently in the 2002 survey, so direct comparisons are difficult, Sharp added. However, he said the level of concern about large scale livestock appears to have increased in northwest Ohio since 2002, while it appears to have decreased, at least modestly, in central Ohio.

"The change in central Ohio may be associated with some of the changes associated with Buckeye Egg in recent years," he said.

At the same time, people seem more concerned about the safety of their food than they were two years ago. In 2004, 47 percent agreed that "Food is not as safe as it was 10 years ago," compared with 39 percent agreeing with that statement in 2002. In addition, more than 86 percent of respondents in 2004 agreed or strongly agreed that "Food safety is a major concern of mine" -- a question that was not asked in 2002.

The 10-page survey was mailed to 3,500 residents throughout Ohio in summer of 2004. A total of 56 percent responded. Respondents' demographic characteristics matched well with Ohio's population as a whole, Sharp said, except that survey respondents tended to be slightly more educated, reported slightly higher home values, and included a smaller proportion of African-American respondents compared with the statewide population. Other findings of note: