Ohio Ranks 13th Among States for Obesity
WASHINGTON -- Twelve states have an adult obesity rate above 30%, a new study has found. Ohio and Pennsylvania have rates of 29.6% and 28.6%, respectively, ranking them 13th and 20th.
The analysis used the state obesity rates made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Mississippi had the highest rate of obesity, 34.9%, while Colorado had the lowest, 20.7%. Of the 30 states with the highest obesity rates, 26 are in the Midwest and South.
“Obesity has contributed to a stunning rise in chronic disease rates and health care costs. It is one of the biggest health crises the country has ever faced,” said Jeffrey Levi, Ph.D., executive director of the trust. “The good news is that we have a growing body of evidence and approaches that we know can help reduce obesity, improve nutrition and increase physical activity based on making healthier choices easier for Americans. The bad news is we're not investing anywhere near what we need to in order to bend the obesity curve and see the returns in terms of health and savings.”
In 2006, obesity-related medical costs totaled $147 billion a year, or nearly 10% of total medical spending, according to a 2011 study in Health Affairs.
According to the newly released CDC data, the 10 states with the highest obesity rates are:
- Mississippi (34.9%)
- Louisiana (33.4%)
- West Virginia (32.4%)
- Alabama (32.0%)
- Michigan (31.3%)
- Oklahoma (31.1%)
- Arkansas (30.9%)
- Indiana and South Carolina (tied at 30.8%)
- Kentucky and Texas (tied at 30.4%)
Colorado has the lowest rate of obesity at 20.7%, followed by Hawaii at 21.8% and Massachusetts at 22.7%.
Trust for America's Health is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country and is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.