Obesity Epidemic
More States Reach 30 Percent Obesity Rate. Obesity is common, serious and costly. Learn how you can promote policies and programs at school, at work and in the community that make the healthy choice the easy choice.
The obesity epidemic affects every state, according to a new CDC report. No state met the country’s Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity to 15 percent. The report also makes recommendations on how to reverse the epidemic.
The CDC Vital Signs report, titled “State-Specific Obesity Prevalence Among Adults – United States, 2009,” points out that people who are obese incurred $1,429 per person extra in medical costs compared to people of normal weight, and that the nation’s total medical costs of obesity were $147 billion in 2008.
New data shows that nine states had an obesity rate of 30 percent or higher in 2009. In comparison, no state had an obesity rate of 30 percent or more in 2000, and only three states reached the 30 percent mark in 2007.
Obesity affects some communities more than others. The highest rates were found among non-Hispanic blacks overall, whose rate was 36.8%, and non-Hispanic black women, whose rate was 41.9%. The rate for Hispanics was 30.7%, and the rate among all non-high school graduates was 32.9%. In addition, the obesity rate was higher in some regions of the country than others. Midwesterners had a rate of 28.2% and residents of the South were at 28.4%.
Serious, Complex Problem
Obesity is a contributing cause of many other health problems, including heart disease stroke, diabetes, and some types of cancer. These are some of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Obesity can cause sleep apnea and breathing problems as well as limit mobility. Obesity can also causes problems during pregnancy or make it more difficult for a woman to become pregnant.
Obesity is a complex problem that requires both personal and community action. People in all communities should be able to make healthy choices. To reverse this epidemic, we need to change our communities into places that strongly support healthy eating and active living.
Given the magnitude of this problem, past efforts and investments have not been sufficient. Federal funding has been provided to determine what works best through initiatives such as the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) program, and CDC’s State-based Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity programs. These initiatives build upon existing public health recommendations.
