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Saturday, December 31st, 2022

State of Obesity 2022: Better Policies for a Healthier America

Author:     Rhea Farberman
Source:     Trust for America's Health
Publication Date:     31 December 2023 (used)
 Link: State of Obesity 2022: Better Policies for a Healthier America
Stephan:   I am really becoming concerned about America's obesity crisis. It is lowering life expectancy in this country, and increasing the rate of a whole range of diseases, starting with diabetes. The last time I went to Costco, a couple of weeks ago, I was struck by the fact that 65% of the people I saw, particularly women -- I counted on my phone -- were obese, some to a point where they were not comfortably able to walk around the warehouse, and were riding the little electric carts Costco provides for shoppers. Long-term obesity is going to have a whole range of negative social consequences and each person has to handle it for themselves.

Trust for America’s Health’s (TFAH) 19th annual report on the nation’s obesity crisis found that 19 states have obesity rates over 35 percent, up from 16 states in 2021, and that social and economic factors are key drivers of increasing obesity rates.  The report includes data by race, age, and state of residence and recommendations for policy action.

(Washington, DC – September 27, 2022) – State of Obesity 2022: Better Policies for a Healthier America found that four in ten American adults have obesity, and obesity rates continue to climb nationwide and within population groups. These persistent increases in obesity rates underscore that obesity is caused by a combination of factors including societal, biological, genetic, and environmental, which are often beyond personal choice. The report’s authors conclude that addressing the obesity crisis will require attending to the economic and structural factors of where and how people live.

The report, based in part on 2021 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System, and analysis by TFAH, tracks rates of overweight and obesity by […]

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1 Comment

  1. Rev. Dean on Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 10:57 pm

    The last time I weighed myself, I only weighed 117.2 pounds. I have not weighed that little since about the time when I was in 8th grade in school. It has all happened since I became a vegetarian, 31 years ago, when I weighed 220 pounds.