Obesity rates rose in 16 states in the past year, 38 states have obesity rates above 25 percent, and 12 states have rates above 30 percent, according to a just-released, highly detailed report analyzing obesity in the United States.
Looks like we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.
The Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2011 Thursday morning, revealing the much-anticipated study of obesity trends over the past year. There are signs of improvement—this is the first year since the report started tracking statistically significant year-to-year increases in 2006 that fewer than 20 states had increases in their adult obesity rates. However, the overall findings show that, despite recent efforts to combat obesity, much more needs to be done to prevent obesity and reverse the epidemic.
Case in point: No state experienced a decrease in its adult obesity rate in the past year.
The results are even more troubling when broken down by factors such as ethnicity, region and income, which show striking divides in obesity rates among different segments of the population. For example, obesity and obesity-related diseases such as diabetes and hypertension are highest in the South; aside from Michigan, the 10 most obese states are all below the Mason-Dixon line.
Obesity and education level appear to be linked, as people who didn’t graduate high school have the highest obesity rate, nearly 33 percent, while those who graduated from college had the lowest, at 21.5 percent. Household income also is a factor, the study shows. Households that make less than $15,000 a year have an obesity rate over 33 percent, while households that have a yearly income above $50,000 have a rate just under 25 percent.
The numbers are especially jarring if you look at the statistics from just 20 years ago, when no state had an obesity rate above 15 percent, and the state with the lowest rate today would have had the highest rate in 1995.
The news isn’t all dire, however. “F as in Fat” also highlights communities that are making significant policy changes to target obesity, with experts urging that such work be replicated across the country.
Want to know how your state measures up? Click here to read the full report.
Full disclosure: PreventObesity.net is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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Leaders are people who are actively working - either professionally or as volunteers - to change policies and environments to help children eat better and be more active. We use the following criteria to evaluate whether to approve an applicant for Leader status with the Voices for Healthy Kids Action Center.
Do you meet the criteria below? If so, register as a Leader here. There is no cost to be a Leader.
At least one item must be checked within each of the following two categories:
1. Applicant is focused on changing policies and environments
They are working on one of Voices for Healthy Kid's six issue areas:
Ensure foods and beverages in schools meet dietary guidelines
Expand community access to high quality food
Expand physical activity programs in and out of school
Improve built environment in communities to increase physical activity
Use pricing strategies to promote purchase of healthier foods
Use regulation/policy to reduce youth exposure to unhealthy food marketing
They are working on other obesity-related issues, such as:
Transportation policy
Other
Their primary focus is working on individual behavior (e.g., teaching kids about food, play, etc.), but they have access to organizations that could provide opportunities to change environments, such as
Schools
Local Governments
Public Health Agencies
Food producers
Advertisers
Other
Their project is commercial, but contributes positively to changing policies and environments, such as:
Farmer's market
Supermarket
Farmer
Food company
Advertiser
Other
2. Applicant is organizing others or contributing to organizing efforts
They are organizing others by:
Doing training
Providing volunteer opportunities
Building contact lists of supporters to engage in advocacy
Holding events
Other
They provide support to organizations or leaders doing work changing policies and environments, such as:
Funding
Evaluation
Capacity Building
Research
Other
They are a leader in a governmental body that may be the target of organizing efforts to change policies and environments, such as a:
Federal or state agency
Mayor or other local executive office
Federal, state, county or local public health department
Federal, state, county or transportation department
Federal, state or local education agency or school board
Other
If the applicant claims to work for an organization, at least one item must be checked below:
3. Applicant works for an organization:
Has an email address that matches the domain of the organization they list
Is listed on the organization website as staff
The Voices for Healthy Kids Action Center is looking for bloggers who can write about issues that matter to our community on a regular basis. If you would like to be considered for this network, please check this box.
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