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Nebraska ranks 23rd MOST Obese State in the Nation |
New Report: Nebraska Ranks 23rd Most Obese State in the Nation
Washington, D.C. June 29, 2010 - Nebraska was named the 23rd most obese state in the country, according to the seventh annual F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2010 report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The state's adult obesity rate is 27.3 percent, and, in Nebraska men are more obese than women at 29 percent. Now more than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25 percent.
The report highlights troubling racial and ethnic disparities in obesity rates. For instance, adult obesity rates for Blacks and Latinos were higher than for Whites in at least 40 states and the District of Columbia. In Nebraska, the adult obesity rate was 37 percent among Blacks and 30.3 percent among Latinos, compared with 26.8 percent among Whites.
In addition, the report shows regional and income disparities in the obesity epidemic. For example, 10 out of the 11 states with the highest rates of obesity were in the South with Mississippi weighing in with highest rates for all adults (33.8 percent) for the sixth year in a row. More than a third (35.3 percent) of adults earning less than $15,000 per year were obese compared with roughly a quarter (24.5 percent) of adults earning $50,000 or more per year.
"Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges the country has ever faced, and troubling disparities exist based on race, ethnicity, region and income," said Jeffrey Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH. "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. Millions of Americans still face barriers - like the high cost of healthy foods and lack of access to safe places to be physically active - that make healthy choices challenging."
Obesity rates among youths ages 10-17 from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) also were included in the 2009 F as in Fat report; 15.8 percent of children were obese in the state, with the state ranking 20th out of the 50 states and D.C. for childhood obesity. Data collection for the next NSCH will begin in 2011. Currently, more than 12 million children and adolescents in the United States are considered obese.
The report also included the results of a new poll on childhood obesity conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and American Viewpoint. The poll shows that 80 percent of Americans recognize that childhood obesity is a significant and growing challenge for the country, and 50 percent of Americans believe childhood obesity is such an important issue that we need to invest more to prevent it immediately. The survey also found that 84 percent of parents believe their children are at a healthy weight, but research shows nearly one-third of children and teens are obese or overweight.
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| Posted on 01 Jul 2010 |
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