Childhood Obesity: A National Health Disaster in the Making?

Despite aggressive public efforts to curb the rise in obesity, Americans in most states are becoming more obese with each passing year, according to the most recent in a series of annual reports from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). This discouraging trend emphasizes the failure of policies aimed at healthful nutrition and physical activity, and suggests the country is unlikely to achieve the health goals set forth by Healthy People 2010—an effort aimed at reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity to less than 15 percent among adults and to less than 5 percent among children by the year 2010.

The report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009, finds that obesity rates for adults in the U.S. rose in 23 states over the past year, and did not decrease in a single state. Sixteen states experienced an increase for the second year in a row, and 11 states experienced an increase for the third straight year. The number of obese adults now exceeds 25 percent in 31 states and exceeds 20 percent in 49 states. To put these numbers into perspective, in 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent, and in 1980, the national average of obese adults was 15 percent.

As in years past, states in the South were found to have particularly high obesity levels, with the region accounting for eight of the top 10 most obese states. Mississippi had the highest adult obesity rate at 32.5 percent, making this the fifth year in a row that the state achieved the dubious honor. Four states, including Mississippi, now have rates above 30 percent; West Virginia at 31.2 percent, Alabama at 31.1 percent, and Tennessee at 30.2 percent. Colorado continued to have the lowest rate, with only 18.9 percent of the adult population classified as obese, and remains the only state in which the adult obesity rate is less than 20 percent.

In addition, the Baby Boomer generation has a higher rate of obesity compared with previous generations. In every state, the rate of obesity is higher among 55- to 64-year-olds—the oldest boomers—than among adults who are 65 and beyond. Estimates of increases range from 5.2 percent in New York to 16.3 percent in Alabama.

However, as bad as the rates are for adults, they are even worse for the country’s children. Overall, the percentage of overweight and obese children (10 to 17 years old) is at or above 30 percent in 30 states. The highest rates for children were also found in eight of 10 Southern states, with Mississippi topping the list at 44.4 percent. Minnesota and Utah had the lowest rate at 23.1 percent.

Research has shown that overweight and obese children generally go on to become obese adults, with all the chronic, weight-related health issues, such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. “We have in our schools and communities a perfect storm that will continue to feed the childhood obesity epidemic until we adopt policies that improve the health of our communities and our kids,” Dr. Frank Chaloupka, professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in a statement to Reuters.


Dr. Jeff Levi, Executive Director of the TFAH, says answers to the problems are not easily found but sorely needed. “There has been a breakthrough in terms of drawing attention to the obesity epidemic, now we need a breakthrough in terms of policies and results,” he said. “Poor nutrition and physical activity are robbing America of our health and productivity.” The report sets forth a number of recommendations for addressing the obesity epidemic, including a National Strategy to Combat Obesity that would define roles and responsibilities for federal, state and local governments and promote collaboration among businesses, communities, schools and families