Obesity Rate Climbing, and Worse in Specific U.S. Regions

More than a quarter of all Americans are now obese, and that’s about a 2% increase from 2005 to 2007 according to U.S. government figures[1], in Reuters today[2]. And, despite the fact that the majority of foods targeting children are unhealthy (see my last posting), the childhood obesity rate has hit a plateau at 16% of U.S. children.

So, just maybe, the message about the importance of nutrition, diet, exercise – basically a healthy lifestyle – is starting to sink in. If adults cannot make the changes for themselves, maybe they’re at least helping the next generation.

The research also shows that there is a higher incidence of obesity in very specific areas of this country. Namely, 27% of adults in the South are obese, 25% in the Midwest, 23% in the Northeast, and 22% in the West, with only 18.7% in Colorado. I’m not a market researcher but I do know that people in these different areas of the country tend to live different lifestyles which could correlate to the differences in level of the rates of obesity.

It would be interesting to see if my there is anything to my theory. If you live in these different areas, please comment and share your opinion and thoughts!

If you’re interested in knowing what your Body Mass Index (BMI) is, you can look it up on the following government table: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/bmi_tbl.htm