The latest state obesity rankings are available in a report released today by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Georgia's adult obesity rate is 27.9% with a state ranking of 14. The rate of obese and overweight children in Georgia is 37.3% with a state ranking of 3.
The percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states. Mississippi had the highest rate of obese and overweight children at 44.4 percent. Minnesota and Utah had the lowest rate at 23.1 percent.
Recommendations from the report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing America 2009, include providing health foods and beverages to students at school; increasing the availability of affordable healthy foods in all communities; and increasing the frequency, intensity and duration of physical activity at school.
We would like to hear about community projects that are successfully addressing obesity. What are the characteristics of healthy communities? How do we change the current culture to one of health?
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