The obesity epidemic is getting worse. A new study from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) finds adult obesity rates went up in 31 states last year.
The fourth annual F as in Fat report also shows obesity rates increased for the second year in a row in 22 states; no states decreased.
Topping the list is Mississippi with the highest rate of adult obesity in the country for the third year in a row. It is also the first state to reach a rate of over 30 percent. And again, Colorado is the leanest state… but its adult obesity rate increased over the past year - from 16.9 to 17.6 percent.
The report also shows ten of the 15 states with the highest rates of adult obesity are in the South. And the rates of adult obesity are now more than 25 percent in 19 states - up from 14 states last year.
Children are not spared from the epidemic. The study finds the rates of overweight kids ages 10 to 17 range from a high of 22.8 percent in Washington, D.D. to a low of 8.5 percent in Utah. Eight of the ten states with the highest rates of overweight children are in the South.
Other findings from the report:
• Twenty-two percent of American adults report that they do not engage in any physical
activity. Mississippi has the highest rate of inactivity at 31.6 percent and Minnesota had the
lowest rate of inactivity at 15.4 percent.
• Seventeen states require their school lunches, breakfasts and snacks to meet higher nutritional
standards than the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires (6 states enacted new
laws in 2006-07).
• Twenty-two states have set nutritional standards for foods sold in vending machines, à la
carte, in school stores, or in bake sales in schools (9 states enacted new laws in 2006-07), and
26 states limit when and where these foods may be sold on school property beyond federal
requirements (6 states enacted new laws in 2006-07).
• While every state has school physical education requirements, many are limited in scope or
are not enforced.
• Sixteen states screen students’ body mass index (BMI) or fitness status and confidentially
provide information to parents or guardians (8 states enacted new laws in 2006-07).
You can see the full report, including state rankings in all categories, at the TFAH’s Web site.
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