Two thirds of American men and women are obese or overweight and in the past year, obesity rates increased in 31 states to a point that eight-five percent of Americans now believe that obesity is an epidemic, according to the fourth annual F as in Fat: how Obesity Policies are failing in America, 2007 report conducted by Trust for America's Health.  

Adult obesity rates have risen from 15 percent in 1978-80 to 32 percent in 2003-04 based on a national survey. About 25 million children are already obese or overweight.  300,000 deaths each year are believed to be associated with obesity, according to Surgeon General.gov. Obesity costs the country 35 billion dollars a year.

Nationwide, 22 states saw an increase in obesity rates for the second year in a row while no state experienced a decrease.

Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity in the country for the third year in a row and is the first to reach a rate over 30 percent. Colorado had the lowest rate of adult obesity, but still experienced a slight increase in the obesity rate from 16.9 to 17.6 percent.

According to the report, the top 10 with the highest obesity rates include 1: Mississippi (1); West Virginia (2); Alabama (3); Louisiana (4); South Carolina and Tennessee (5 and 6); Kentucky (7); Arkansas (8); and Indiana and Michigan (9 and 10).

The leanest states include Colorado (1), Massachusetts, Vermont, Hawaii, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Montana, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico (10).

The southern states are the worse.   Ten out of 15 states with the highest rates of adult obesity are in the South.   Now 19 states have their adult obesity rates exceed 25 percent compared to 14 states last year and 9 in 2005.   In 1991, the obesity rate in no state exceeded 20 percent.

The childhood overnight rates were also getting higher, from 8.5 percent in Utah to 22.8 percent in Washington D.C.   Again, the southern states had the highest rates of overweight in children.   Eight out of the ten states with the highest rates were in the South.   Individuals with a body mass index between 25.0 and 29.9 are considered overweight.

The results of the current survey confirmed findings early reported on July 27 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the CDC, d ata from two NHANES surveys (1976–1980 and 2003–2004) show the prevalence of overweight is increasing: for children aged 2–5 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 13.9%; for those aged 6–11 years, prevalence increased from 6.5% to 18.8%; and for those aged 12–19 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 17.4%. ¹

For the youth overweight rate, the best ten include 1: D.C.; 2: West Virginia; 3: Kentucky; 4: Tennessee; 5: North Carolina; 6: Texas; 7: South Carolina; 8: Mississippi; 9: Louisiana; 10: New Mexico.   The worse ten include Nebraska, Rhode Island; 43: Vermont; 44 (tie) Alaska, Montana; 46: Washington; 47 (tie): Idaho, Minnesota; 49: Colorado; 50: Wyoming; 51: Utah.

In California, the rate of adult obesity was 22.7 percent, ranked at the 36th highest and the overweight rate in youths age 10 to 17 were 13.2 percent, ranked at the 32nd highest in the nation.

Obesity, defined as a body mass index greater than 30, is believed to result from poor nutrition and physical inactivity and to be associated with elevated risk of a number of chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, breathing problems, and psychological disorders, such as depression, and some forms of cancer.   Obese people often die early than their lean counterparts.

The report found twenty-two percent of Americans reported they do not engage in any physical exercise with the highest percent in Mississippi (31.6) and the lowest in Minnesota (15.4).

On July 27, 2007, the CDC released a report saying that “ during the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. This slide set illustrates this trend by mapping the increased prevalence of obesity across each of the states.”

“In 2006, only four states had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Twenty-two states had a prevalence equal or greater than 25%; two of these states ( Mississippi and West Virginia) had a prevalence of obesity equal to or greater than 30%.”

The Trust for America's Health is calling on the government to play a larger role in preventing obesity. Government policies are needed to advocate healthy diet, increase regulation of the restaurant industry and get Americans into more physical exercise.

Full report at http://healthyamericans.org/newsroom/releases/release082707.pdf