* Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention, released results of a study measuring obesity rates. They compared data, from 2003-2005 with 2004-2006, "from a survey of height and weight taken over the telephone. Because the information comes from a personal estimate, some believe it is conservative."
* "Obesity rates continued their climb in 31 states last year. No state showed a decline. Mississippi became the first state to crack the 30% barrier for adults considered to be obese. West Virginia and Alabama were just behind, according to the Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention."
* "Colorado continued its reign as the leanest state in the nation with an obesity rate projected at 17.6%."
* "This year's report, for the first time, looked at rates of overweight children ages 10 to 17. The District of Columbia had the highest percentage — 22.8%. Utah had the lowest — 8.5%."
* "'Unfortunately, we're treating it like a mere inconvenience instead of the emergency that it is,' said Dr. James Marks, senior vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy devoted to improving health care. Officials at the Trust for America's Health want the government to play a larger role in preventing obesity."
* Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said, 'If we want kids to eat healthier food, we have to invest the money for school nutrition programs so that school lunches are healthier. If we want people to be more physically active, then there have to be safe places to be active. That's not just a class issue. We've designed suburban communities where there are no sidewalks for anybody to go out and take a walk.'"
* "Poverty can lead to less safe neighborhoods, which deter children from playing. It can lead to fewer grocery stores offering fruits and vegetables, and it can lead to greater reliance on fast food, (CDC) officials said."
* "It seems the cheapest foods are the worst ones for you," Dr. Marks said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-08-27-obesity-rates_N.htm
2 comments:
Mike Nizza of the NYTimes Lede section directed attention to these USA Today articles. In this reference he provides:
* “Eat less and move more” is the advice tersely offered by Alice H. Lichtenstein, a nutrition professor at Tufts University.
* He says she "warns that it would be 'misguided fantasy' to think that a switch in oils would significantly affect obesity."
* Nizza also reminds the reader of Michael Pollan's advice: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
gggg
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