Massive public efforts to kerb the U.S. obesity epidemic are falling tragically short, with populations in about states comely more corpulent with each passing yr, according to a new report that underscores the failure of initiatives aimed at promoting exercise and good nutrition.
The discouraging trends, reported in the fifth annual "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2008" report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), reveal that obesity rates rose in 37 states in the past year, while no state registered a decrement in obesity.
Worse, in 24 states the uptick continued a drift seen from the former year. Obesity rates rose for a third serial year in a add up of 19 states.
"Our analysis found that on the state and community levels, overall we are non treating the obesity epidemic with the urgent reaction it deserves," said Jeff Levi, executive director of TFAH, during a Tuesday morning urge conference.
As in years past tense, states in the South were plant to take particularly high school obesity levels. The region accounted for nine of the top 10 near obese states.
Mississippi holds the dubious honor as the most corpulent state, with 31.7 percent of adults qualifying as obese. Colorado is the slimmest state, with only 18.4 percent of the adult population classified as obese -- but regular this
