The American Obesity Association reports that 30 percent of all adults are clinically obese, a number that has increased seven percent in just a decade.

In recent years, the University has taken extra measures to combat the alarming trend of overeating and unhealthy lifestyles on campus.

The newest attempt at thwarting fat on campus is the HealthySTATE Task Force, a Student Health Services initiated collaboration of representatives covering a broad spectrum of the University.

According to task force originator Jerry Barker, the coalition has focused its efforts on the prevention of unhealthy decisions.

“We have targeted first year students as the group we want to do a really great job with,” Barker, director of Student Health Services, said. “If you can create an image in advance as to the social norm you can create and foster positive habits.”

Barker said the task force is still getting off the ground – it has only met four times since its inception — but said the unprecedented alliance of University organizations, which includes University Dining and the Counseling Center, among others, is headed in the right direction.

“We are developing a survey and thinking about forming focus groups in finding out what students need,” Barker said. “If all these departments work together we will be more successful.”

Stephanie Sobol, associate director of Health Promotion and a task force member, said she has seen a change in weight on campus since she first arrived seven years ago.

“I’m amazed at the number of students who are overweight or obese that I see on campus,” Sobol said. “In general, we are seeing more and more students being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, something that can be prevented and reversed.”

Sobol said the main problem she sees in students who come to the health center looking for help with weight is the environment they grew up in.

“Their hunger cues are off,” Sobol said. “It is how they have been raised to eat and it carries over into college. A lot of what we are doing is trying to undo bad habits.”

Barker said the best thing overweight students can do to shed the pounds is anything.

“If you’re already overweight you may already feel defeated,” Barker said. “Almost anything you do in achieving a healthy weight and improving conditioning will pay off.”

Sobol said while the University does provide its students with valuable health services, it may be shooting itself in the foot in the fight against excess weight.

“In my time here, the Wolfline may be the worst thing to happen to this university, from a health and fitness standpoint,” Sobol said of the University’s busing system. “It’s important to get students to campus, but once they are here there should not be so many stops to where.”

She said the University’s tendency towards focusing events around food was also a problem area in keeping students healthy.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” Sobol said. “I encourage organizations to have healthy foods at their events.”

Sobol also said that thin people can be just as unhealthy as their overweight counterparts.

“The issue of you have to be thin to be healthy or unfit is a myth,” she said.

According to Sobol the primary combatants against unwanted fat is becoming active and eating well.

“Get moving and be aware of what you are putting in your body,” she said.