A new national obesity report was released this week, and boy oh boy do some states love to overindulge in food. Sadly, obesity rates in seven states increased from last year and hit dangerous levels.
New data released by nonprofit organizations Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that America continues to love fatty foods. The State of Obesity 2018 report found that 22 states had adult obesity rates between 30 and 35 percent, 19 states had rates between 25 and 30 percent.
Seven states — Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and West Virginia — had adult obesity rates above 35 percent, up from five states last year. The fattest was West Virginia with an obesity rate over 38 percent and Iowa was at 36 percent.
Only two states — Colorado and Hawaii as well as the District of Columbia — have obesity rates below 25 percent. Colorado with their hiking had the lowest obesity rate of all the states with 22.6 percent. Despite health food becoming more popular and more easily accessible, not one state showed a statistical improvement in their obesity rates from the 2017 report.
https://www.tfah.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/TFAH-2018-Graph-1ARv.png
“Black and Latino children and adults continue to have higher obesity rates than Whites and Asians,” the study found.
“Obesity is a major challenge in nearly every state, and our role as public health leaders is to ensure we’re doing everything we can to address it,” said John Wiesman, president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sites that there are many health risks associated with obesity:
- All-causes of death (mortality)
- High blood pressure (Hypertension)
- High LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, or high levels of triglycerides (Dyslipidemia)
- Type 2 diabetes
- Coronary heart disease
- Stroke
- Gallbladder disease
- Osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage and bone within a joint)
- Sleep apnea and breathing problems
- Some cancers (endometrial, breast, colon, kidney, gallbladder, and liver)
- Low quality of life
- Mental illness such as clinical depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders8
- Body pain and difficulty with physical functioning
Check out the map below to see how fat your state is.
https://www.tfah.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Updated_Map_BRFSS_2017.png
[CBSNews]