SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A state task force is calling for spending $3.5 million to restore daily physical education in Oregon schools to combat "alarming" rates of obesity.

Another $10 million should be spent on statewide education and prevention efforts aimed at overweight Oregonians of all ages, the task force said.

A report issued Tuesday by the panel said that six in 10 Oregon adults, and one in five Oregon children, are overweight or obese. Treating obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke costs Oregon nearly $800 million a year, it said.

"This is a public health crisis, and there is no time to lose in taking action," state Human Services Director Bruce Goldberg said.

The call for devoting more resources to obesity prevention comes at a difficult time, though, with state revenue continuing to plummet along with the general economy in Oregon.

Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney has led the effort in the Legislature to establish higher PE standards, pushing through new requirements in 2007 for schools to provide a certain amount of physical education each week.

Those requirements are being phased in over a number of years, however, and lawmakers are having a tough time finding money to pay for it in this deepening recession.

"A healthy body and a healthy mind - they go hand-in-hand. We've got to keep at it," Courtney, a Salem Democrat, said Tuesday. "But we can't promise money for anything, with how bad things are right now."

The task force, made up of public health officials, educators, lawmakers and others, was created by the 2007 Legislature to take an in-depth look at increasing rates of obesity in Oregon over the past few decades.

"It is too easy to find high-calorie, low-nutrition food and way too easy to be sedentary at work and at home," said task force member Mary Lou Hennrich, a public health nurse. "We need to get to work and make healthy choices the easy choices."

Goldberg, meanwhile, said there are steps the state can take to combat obesity, including supporting farm-to-school and school garden programs to promote healthy eating habits among children.

The human services chief also said he hopes lawmakers will pass pending legislation to require all restaurant chains doing business in Oregon with 15 or more stores nationwide to post calorie counts on their menus, menu boards and food tags.

"That would increase the ability of Oregonians to better understand the food they are buying," Goldberg said. "The fact is, we take in too many calories, and we don't get enough exercise."
     
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