An annual report put out by two public health groups shows that
America is getting fatter. Adult obesity rates have increased in 16
states in the past year, with 12 states now reporting at least 30% of
their populations as obese.
Only one state in the nation, Colorado, long one of the slimmest, has
an adult obesity rate below 20% — but at 19.8%, just barely.
Mississippi ignominiously leads the fat pack with a 34.4% rate of
obesity. No states showed a decrease since the previous year.
The highest obesity rates are in the South, large swaths of which are
poor and rural, and where fried foods are eaten in abundance.
Following Mississippi, the most obese states are Alabama, West
Virginia, Tennessee and Louisiana. It's not until No. 10 on the list,
Michigan, that a state above the Mason-Dixon Line appears. The least
obese states continue to be in the West and Northeast.
In a foreword to the report, former Surgeon General David Satcher
presents a concrete number of Americans,
190 million, who are
overweight or obese. He outlines the most important facets of the
"epidemic" as he sees them: the associated health problems that are on
the rise, from Type 2 diabetes to cancer; bloated health-care costs;
and "food deserts" where largely poor communities have little access
to healthy food. As in previous years, the report showed that
lower-income groups and minorities tend to have more widespread
obesity.
Type 2 diabetes rates in 11 states and the District of Columbia have
risen in the past year, the report found, and all but four states have
seen increases in rates of high blood pressure in recent years. Today,
every state has hypertension rates over 20%, with nine over 30%.
Twenty years ago, 37 states had hypertension rates over 20%.
Satcher warns against viewing the problem as a series of personal failures. There needs to be a combination of opportunities that will make healthy choices easier, on the food front and the activity front. Now, there will always be an element of personal responsibility, but even with motivated people, if you live in a neighborhood where the only food that's available is fast food, it's going to be very hard to follow through on your personal
commitment."
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/08/america-sees-its-obesity-rates-and-raises-them/#ixzz1RmsRs9XB
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