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• F as in Fat: Report Ranks Texas 13th Fattest
• 46 million uninsured; highest figure in 12 years
• Southern Obesity Summit 2010 Cook Book
• Houston Obesity Awareness Summit Draws 400
• Mental Health Policy Changes Outlined
• County Health Rankings / State Budget Cuts
• Health Information Technologies Equal Better Outcomes
F as in Fat: Report Ranks Texas 13th Fattest
While Texas dropped one place in the state-to-state rankings of most obese state to number 13, the overall percentage of obese Texans grew by 1.1 percentage point and for the sixth year in a row, Mississippi leads the nation in obesity rates. According to a new report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in 31 states, more than one in four adults are obese… including Texas, which weighed in as the 13th most obese state.
Obesity rates among adults rose in 28 states over the past year, and no state experienced a significant decline, signaling an even greater burden on southern states, eight of which are host to populations over 30% obese.
Among the F as in Fat : 2010 How Obesity Threatens America's Future report findings, adult obesity rates rose in 28 states over the past year. Only the District of Columbia experienced a decline in adult obesity rates. The eight southern states with rates above 30 percent: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent. Mississippi continues to have the highest rate of obese adults at 33.8 percent while Colorado had the lowest rate at 19.1 percent and is the only state with a rate below 20 percent.
"Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges the country has ever faced, and troubling disparities exist based on race, ethnicity, region and income," said Jeffrey Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH. "This report shows that the country has taken bold steps to address the obesity crisis in recent years, but the nation's response has yet to fully match the magnitude of the problem.
During the 2009 Southern Obesity Summit held in Austin, Texas, advocates voiced support for health reform legislation which included community-level programs that help people make healthier choices. Among the recommended solutions were building sidewalks so people can walk their neighborhoods instead of drive, and providing healthier school lunches to help fight the childhood obesity that turns into adult obesity, greater access to health education and recreation activities…strategies which target obesity in both adult and childhood obesity.
The 2010 Southern Obesity Summit will again address the growing issue of obesity in the South. The Summit, which is held in Atlanta, Georgia this year from September 13-14th, will include representatives from 16 southern states who will develop and share grass-roots, sustainable obesity prevention and intervention strategies.
Visit www.southernobesitysummit.org for additional Summit information.
Visit the Trust for America’s Health to view the 2010 F as in Fat report in its entirety.