On the obesity front, there's good news and there's bad news.
After years of increases, adult obesity rates remain steady, according to a report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. But they're still too high.
The report found that after three decades of increases, adult obesity rates remained level in every state except for one, Arkansas, in the past year.
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Thirteen states now have adult obesity rates above 30 percent, 41 states have rates of at least 25 percent, and every state is above 20 percent, according to the report. In 1980, no state was above 15 percent; in 1991, no state was above 20 percent; in 2000, no state was above 25 percent; and, in 2007, only Mississippi was above 30 percent.
"While stable rates of adult obesity may signal prevention efforts are starting to yield some results, the rates remain extremely high," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of TFAH.
"Even if the nation holds steady at the current rates, baby boomers — who are aging into obesity-related illnesses — and the rapidly rising numbers of extremely obese Americans are already translating into a cost crisis for the health care system and Medicare," he said.
Mississippi — long America's fattest state — was finally outdone this year, but just by a nose. Louisiana has the nation's highest rate at 34.7 percent, followed closely by Mississippi at 34.6 percent. Colorado had the lowest rate at 20.5 percent.
Obesity rates for baby boomers have reached 40 percent in two states (Alabama and Louisiana) and are 30 percent or higher in 41 states. By comparison, obesity rates for seniors exceed 30 percent in only one state (Louisiana). Obesity rates for young adults (18-to 25-year-olds) are below 28 percent in every state.
A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month found that 18 states and one U.S. territory experienced a decline in obesity rates among preschool children from low-income families.
Despite that good news, RWJF CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey said no one should believe the "nation's work is done."
"We've learned a lot in the last decade about how to prevent obesity. Now it's time to take that knowledge to scale," she said.
"In order to decrease obesity and related costs, we must ensure that policies at every level support healthy choices, and we must focus investments on prevention," Levi said.
Some recommendations? Healthy food and snacks in school; caloric information on restaurant menus; encouraging walking and biking; and "investing more in preventing disease to save money on treating it."
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