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A new paper has revealed that US obesity rates have finally stopped going up. The numbers aren’t improving yet, but they’re not worsening either. This is a welcomed change from the findings of surveys conducted in recent years.
The bad news is that government officials are saying that over two thirds of United States adults are still either obese or overweight. But the good news is that the percentages pretty much resemble those of last year’s.
However the statistic is far from being a happy one as it means that an alarming 68.6 percent (68.6%) of adults living in the United States are vulnerable to developing type 2 diabetes and suffering from strokes as well as heart attacks.
As team of researchers from the Trust For America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reached these conclusions after conducting a telephone survey that takes place on a yearly basis. For the project, government officials interviewed people from all around the 50 states.
The results showed that the rates of obesity in the 45 American states have not gone up or down in a meaningful way since the survey was last conducted, in 2014.
Only five (5) states have revealed a slight increase in rates of obesity in the past 12 months. They are New Mexico, Utah, Ohio, Minnesota, and Kansas.
The results for both 2014 and 2015 showed that 22 of the nation’s states have a minimum of 30 percent (30%) obese adults, out of their entire population. The highest rates of obesity were found in states located in the South and the Midwest. This should not come as a shock as a recent study has concluded that the Southern diet is affecting a lot of people’s health due to its abundance of fried foods and calories.
Three (3) of the 50 states had rates of obesity that were over 35 percent (35%)– West Virginia, Mississippi and Arkansas – whereas the healthiest of the 50 states, Colorado, had a rate of obesity that was 21.3 percent (21.3%).
Both the 2014 and the 2015 surveys were also consistent in finding that the Southern states are home to the highest percentages of people who have high blood pressure, as well as the highest percentages of type 2 diabetes patients.
While the fact that US obesity rates haven’t gone up this year is a good reason to celebrate, when compared to results from some of the more distant surveys, one can’t help but notice that the situation has worsened in the past few decades.
The information gathered by researches back in 1980 shows that none of the states had a rate of obesity that went above 15 percent (15%). And the information gathered by researches in 1991 shows that none of the states had a rate of obesity that went above 20 percent (20%).
It’s worth mentioning that some of the communities participating in the survey have taken shy steps in the right direction as researchers have found a slight decline in their rates of early childhood obesity. However, the rate of overall childhood obesity is still the sane as last year – 17 percent (17%).
The findings were published earlier this week, on September 21, 2015, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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