Thursday, July 2, 2009

Ohio Weighs In As 10th Fattest State

“Ohio is still living large. So large, in fact, that we're now the 10th fattest state in the nation, according to an annual report released yesterday by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Tied with Arkansas, Ohio joins a top-10 list of mostly southern states. Last year, the Buckeye State was 17th. The foundation ranked Ohio 15th overall for overweight young people. The obesity rate for 10- to 17-year-olds is 33.3 percent; Ohio's adult obesity rate is 28.6 percent. The picture isn't particularly pretty anywhere in the nation. In the past year, adult obesity rates jumped in almost half of the nation and didn't decrease in any state, according to the report, which was released yesterday and relies on federal obesity data. The overall fattening of America has wide-reaching implications and is driving up health-care costs, a problem that will only worsen as corpulent baby boomers age, said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health. The economic downturn is also adding to the problem, as people get less preventive care and seek out cheaper and often less nutritious foods, said Dr. James Marks, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/07/02/GROWING.ART_ART_07-02-09_A1_1FEBUBF.html?sid=101

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