Study ranks Alabama 5th-most obese state

The study reported all states have at least a 20 percent obesity rate.

More attention and funding have gone to preventing obesity over the past decade, said Rodney Lyn, an obesity expert and an associate dean in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University.

The Golden State’s obesity rate was 25 percent in 2014, compared with 24 percent in 2013.

The report estimates that obesity and obesity-related conditions and diseases cost the United States between $147 billion and $210 billion yearly and are associated with job absenteeism (which costs about $4.3 billion per year) and lower work productivity (about $506 per employee yearly).

Obesity puts some 78 million Americans at an increased risk of various health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer, the report said. In 22 states, around 30 percent of the adult population are obese.

“We urge parents, teachers, and community leaders to visit our website and learn that small steps can be taken to make healthy changes for Latino children-that’s how we make progress happen”, said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.

“Stabilizing rates is an accomplishment”.

The problem is higher among men, blacks and people aged 45 to 64 in Florida, the data shows. Children need the chance to grow up at a healthy weight, and all adults need the opportunity to be as healthy as they can be, no matter what their weight…

While the weight gain over the years came in large part due to high levels of physical inactivity by Americans across the country, especially in the South and Midwest, year-over-year inactivity has reduced significantly in some of Americas most sedentary states.

Meanwhile, both states represent the chronically obese South, a region replete with deep-fried customs, food-themed events, high poverty and limited access to fruits and vegetables. Arkansas is at the top of the chart with at just under 36 percent of adults who are obese, followed by West Virginia at 35.7 percent and Mississippi at 35.5 percent.