An annual obesity report finds Americans have an increasing awareness of obesity and its threat to public health, but the knowledge has yet to translate into trimmer figures.
There is one notable exception. Washington, D.C., was the only area in the nation to see a decline (a whopping 0.8 percent) in adult obesity rates in the past year.
Obesity rates increased in 28 states last year, including Maryland (0.6 percent) and Virginia (0.1 percent).
"This report shows that the country has taken bold steps to address the obesity crisis in recent years, but the nation's response has yet to fully match the magnitude of the problem," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health, which writes the annual report with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Indeed. Last year, four states — Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and West Virginia — had obesity rates greater than 30 percent.
This year, people in four more states — Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arkansas — lumbered their way onto the list. There are now eight states with obesity rates of more than 30 percent.
In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent.
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Obesity in adults is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. BMI is a common measure expressing the relationship of weight to height.
Mississippi continued its six-year reign as the country's fattest state (33.8 percent of adults there are obese) in the study's yearly rankings. Colorado is the slimmest state (19.1 percent) and the only state with an obesity rate below 20 percent.
In terms of national ranking, with the heaviest states at the top of the list, Maryland residents are the chunkiest in our area, ranked at 26 with a 26.6 percent obesity rate. Virginia is 32nd on the list with a 25.5 percent obesity rate, and the District ranks 49 out of 51 with a 21.5 percent obesity rate. Only Connecticut (21.4 percent) and Colorado have fewer obese residents.
But don’t break out the celebratory cheesecake yet, D.C. The city ranks poorly in rates of childhood obesity. The District and eight states have childhood obesity rates above 20 percent.
The report also details racial disparities in obesity, showing that obesity rates for blacks and Latinos were higher than for whites in 40 states and the District of Columbia.
The bottom line, according to the study authors, is that despite important progress, obesity remains one of the most significant public health challenges the country has ever faced.
