The country’s obesity epidemic continues to rise according to a report released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and Trust for America”s Health (TFAH). This, the 7th annual report released by the joint efforts of the 2 groups, examines the policies of federal and state governments in their efforts to prevent and reduce childhood and adult obesity rates.

What sets this report apart from the previous 6 is the inclusion of guest authors on a variety of relevant issues including communities’ access to affordable healthy foods, and steps food manufacturers are taking to improve the nutritional quality of their products. It also looks at ways to ensure that disease-prevention methods are included in the new health reform law and are implemented in strategic, cost-effective ways.

The major findings include:

• Adult obesity rates rose in 28 states over the past year (only the District of Columbia had a decline)
• 38 states now have adult obesity rates over 25%
• 8 states have adult obesity rates over 30% (in 1991 no state had an obesity rate above 20%)
• Mississippi had the highest rate of obese adults at 33.8% with Colorado having the lowest rate at 19.1%
• Blacks and Latinos have higher obesity rates than whites in at least 40 states and in DC.
• Latino adult obesity rates are 30% of more in 19 states
• Only West Virginia has an adult obesity rate for whites greater than 30%
• In 9 states, obesity rates for Blacks exceed 40%.

The major findings for child and adolescent obesity are:

• 9 out of 10 states with the highest childhood obesity rates are in the South. This correlates with 9 out of 10 states in the South having the highest rates of poverty.
• 8 states plus DC have childhood obesity rates greater than 20%
• Mississippi has the highest percentage of obese children at 21.9%

80% of Americans view childhood obesity as a serious problem, a view that cut across all demographics. Although there is controversy over how much of a role government should play in reducing this trend, 73% felt that it was an important goal for the government to focus on. In addition, 56% felt that government programs that dealt with reducing these rates were worth the financial investment even at the cost of billions of dollars a year. The majority of voters see that reducing childhood obesity rates will ultimately save taxpayers money.

For an executive summary of the report, entitled F as in Fat: 2010 How Obesity Threatens America’s Future can be read by following this link. The full report can be accessed here.

To find out how your state is doing, the executive summary provides charts that look at obesity rates for Blacks, Latinos, and obesity related standards in schools.

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