The rate of obesity among adults in Mississippi and West Virginia exceeded 35 percent last year, researchers said this week, and at least 21 percent of adults in every state are obese.
In Illinois, the adult obesity rate was 29.4 percent in 2013, up from 28.1 percent in 2012 and up from just 12.1 percent back in 1990, according to a report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
Adult obesity rates rose in six states in 2013 and did not decrease in any states, according to
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More than 33 percent of adults (those 18 and older) who earn less than $15,000 per year are obese, compared with 25.4 percent who earn at least $50,000 per year. The number of severely obese adults has quadrupled over the past 30 years, with more than 6 percent of adults now considered severely obese, researchers said.
The report measures adult obesity as having a body mass index of 30 or more. Severe obesity in adults is tracked as having a BMI of 40 or more.
“Obesity in America is at a critical juncture. Obesity rates are unacceptably high, and the disparities in rates are profoundly troubling,” Jeffrey Levi, executive director of TFAH, said in a statement.
Rates of obesity are higher in Southern states and among blacks, Latinos, and those with lower incomes and lower levels of education, researchers said.
According to the report, adult obesity rates rose in Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming.