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States Gain Little Ground In Obesity Battle

Number Of Overweight People Continues To Grow

POSTED: 12:47 am PDT August 19, 2008

Obesity rates continue to rise in 37 states, and no states have seen a decrease, according to a new report from the Trust for America's Health.

The new report compares rates from 2005-2007 to 2004-2006.

The group, which calls for fixes such as a national plan to fight child obesity and more workplace health facilities, found that at least one in five adults is obese in every state except Colorado, where the rate is 18.4 percent.

Mississippi had the highest rate, at 31.7 percent.

The group said obesity rates in the U.S. have doubled since 1980, from 15 percent to 30 percent, and that two-thirds of adults are either overweight or obese. Childhood obesity rates have tripled from 6.5 percent to 16.3 percent.

Even in Colorado, the adult obesity rate rose from 17.6 percent to 18.4 percent in the last year.

The 10 states with the highest obesity rates included nine from the South, which also had all 10 of the states with the highest rates of high blood pressure. (Click here for a list of every state's obesity rate.)

10 Highest Obesity Rates Mississippi
West Virginia
Alabama
Louisiana
South Carolina
Tennessee
Kentucky
Oklahoma
Arkansas
Michigan

The states with the lowest obesity rates were: Colorado
Hawaii
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Vermont
Rhode Island
Montana
Utah
D.C.
New Jersey


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