TFAH, RWJF Report Highlights Growth in Adult Obesity Rates, Calls for Early Intervention

A national report released Tuesday by the Trust for America’s Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that adult obesity rates increased in 37 states last year, and calls for implementation of a national strategy to promote physical activity and good nutrition, HealthDay News reports. Using three-year averages from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Study of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report, F  as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America, finds that adult obesity rates rose for a second consecutive year in 24 states and for a third consecutive year in 19 states. According to the report, the adult obesity rate exceeded 25 percent in 28 states in 2007, up from 19 states in 2006, and every state except Colorado had an adult obesity rate over 20 percent. The report notes that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, which has been linked to obesity, increased in 26 states last year; four states now reportrates above 10 percent.  Although all 50 states and the District of Columbia have passed measures related to physical education or activity in schools, the report says that only 13 have formal policies for enforcing those laws and only four impose penalties for non-compliance. The report points out that the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 2005 but  has yet to extend those recommendations to the federally supported school meal program. The report calls for a national strategy that includes investing in community-based prevention initiatives and requiring insurers to provide coverage for obesity prevention services. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., RWJF president and CEO, says that “despite widespread acknowledgement that obesity is endangering the health of millions of Americans, the country is still failing to respond clearly or comprehensively.”  “We must ensure that strong policies are implemented and enforced in every state,” she says, “not only to help reverse existing obesity rates, but to prevent obesity among our nation’s children—and generations to come” (HealthDay News, 8/19/08; RWJF release, 8/19/08).