(Radio Iowa) – A new report shows that people in Iowa are still gaining weight. More than one in three adults in Iowa are now considered fat. The national study says that Iowa and Indiana are tied for seventh place as the states with the most overweight people. Dr. Nadine Gracia is the president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health.
According to Gracia, the most recent data from Iowa shows that about 37% of people are obese. This isn’t a big change from the previous year, but what’s more important is that we look at trends. “When we look at the state over the last five years, there has been a big rise, showing that we need to keep working hard to fight obesity in both adults and children.”
Based on the study, Iowa’s teens and young adults are seeing the same thing: heavier people. “Across the country, about 20% of kids are overweight or obese,” says Gracia. “For children in Iowa between the ages of 6 and 17, that rate is about 15%, and it has been going up over time.” The study found that about ten years ago, there were no states with an adult obesity rate of more than 35%. Now, Iowa and almost half of all states are in that group.
“Now, 23 states have rates of obesity among adults at or above 35 percent,” Gracia says. “If we look at the last five years as well, we can see that the rate of adult obesity has gone up in more than half of the states in the country.”
It is hard to figure out what is causing obesity, and she calls it a national public health problem that affects more than just one person’s actions. Gracia adds, “We also know that your environment, like whether you can get cheap, healthy foods and whether you live in a neighborhood where you can safely do physical activity, are really important structural factors when it comes to your risk for obesity.”
Other factors may include medications, genetics, other health issues, and stress. The report shows West Virginia has the highest obesity rate at 41-percent, while Colorado ranked the lowest with 25-percent.