Adult Obesity On The Rise

Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, and declined only in the District of Columbia, according to a report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25%. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20%. Adult obesity rates for African-Americans and Hispanics were higher than for whites in at least 40 states and the District of Columbia. 

Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges the country. Some of the key findings are:

- Adult obesity rates for Blacks topped 40% in nine states, 35% in 34 states, and 30% in 43 states and D.C.;

- Rates of adult obesity for Latinos were above 35% in two states (North Dakota and Tennessee) and at 30% and above in 19 states;

- Ten-of-the-11 states with the highest rates of diabetes are in the South, as are the 10 states with the highest rates of hypertension;

- The number of states where adult obesity rates exceed 30% doubled in the past year, from four to eight — Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia;

- Northeastern and western states had the lowest adult obesity rates — Colorado remained the lowest at 19.1%.

Just as alarming are the childhood obesity rates and trends, with more than one-third of children ages 10 to 17 being obese (16.4%) or overweight (18.2%). Nationwide, less than one-third of all children ages 6 to 17 engage in vigorous activity, defined as at least 20 minutes of physical activity that makes the child sweat and breathe hard.

Americans seem to pay so much attention to weight, spending billions of dollars on weight-loss products and services but despite all this, obesity rates are increasing.

People, alone, cannot address this problem; public policy needs to help us. For example, President Obama's White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity has set a goal to reduce child obesity rates from 17% to 5% by 2030, a goal the report calls "bold."  On top of the federal activity, 20 states have set stricter requirements for nutritional standards.  Hopefully, with the help of public policy and our own choices, we can address this issue.