Obesity rates climbing in US
2005-08-24 09:30
Washington - Obesity rates rose last year in all but one of America's 50 states, according to an advocacy group that called on the government and the private sector to get more involved in Americans' battle with expanding waistlines.
The advocacy group, Trust for America's Health, said data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the percentage of obese adults for 2002 to 2000 stood at 22.7% nationally. The percentage for the previous cycle, 2001 to 2003, was 22%.
The state exhibiting the largest increase in obesity was Alabama. There, the rate increased 1.5% points to 27.7%. In the only state that did not show an increase, Oregon, the rate held steady at 21%
Government must confront obesity
The report said the states with the highest percentage of obese adults were mostly in the South: Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana and Tennessee.
The states with the lowest percentage of obese adults were in the northeast and the West: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Colorado and Montana. Hawaii was not included in the report.
An official with the Trust for America's Health said the United States is stuck in a "debate limbo" about how the government should confront obesity. She used the report to call for more government action on several fronts, such as ensuring that land use plans promote physical activity; that school lunch programmes serve healthier meals; and that recipients of government health benefits get access to subsidised fitness programmes, such as aerobics classes.
'Obesity a personal issue'
"We have a crisis of poor nutrition and physical inactivity in the US, and it's time we dealt with it," said Shelley A Hearne, executive director of the organisation.
Radley Balko, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, said he is wary of the call for more government action on obesity. The institute is a think tank that prefers free-market approaches to problems.
"I think obesity is a very personal issue. What you eat and how often you exercise, if that comes within the government's purview, it's difficult to think of what's left that isn't," Balko said.
Health policy analysts maintain that obesity increases the burden on taxpayers because it requires the government health programmes to cover the treatment of diseases caused by obesity. The report issued on Tuesday said taxpayers spent $39bn in 2003 for the treatment of conditions attributable to obesity.
Adults with a body mass index of 30 or more are considered obese. The equation used to figure body mass index is body weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. The measurement is not a good indicator of obesity for muscular people who exercise a lot.
- SAPA