The obesity epidemic affects every state, according to a new CDC report. No state met the country's Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity to 15 percent. The report also makes recommendations on how to reverse the epidemic.

The CDC Vital Signs report, titled "State-Specific Obesity Prevalence Among Adults – United States, 2009," points out that people who are obese incurred $1,429 per person extra in medical costs compared to people of normal weight, and that the nation's total medical costs of obesity were $147 billion in 2008.

New data shows that nine states had an obesity rate of 30 percent or higher in 2009. In comparison, no state had an obesity rate of 30 percent or more in 2000, and only three states reached the 30 percent mark in 2007.

Obesity affects some communities more than others. The highest rates were found among non-Hispanic blacks overall, whose rate was 36.8%, and non-Hispanic black women, whose rate was 41.9%. The rate for Hispanics was 30.7%, and the rate among all non-high school graduates was 32.9%. In addition, the obesity rate was higher in some regions of the country than others. Midwesterners had a rate of 28.2% and residents of the South were at 28.4%.

Serious, Complex Problem

Obesity is a contributing cause of many other health problems, including heart disease stroke, diabetes, and some types of cancer. These are some of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Obesity can cause sleep apnea and breathing problems as well as limit mobility. Obesity can also causes problems during pregnancy or make it more difficult for a woman to become pregnant.

Obesity is a complex problem that requires both personal and community action. People in all communities should be able to make healthy choices. To reverse this epidemic, we need to change our communities into places that strongly support healthy eating and active living.

Given the magnitude of this problem, past efforts and investments have not been sufficient. Federal funding has been provided to determine what works best through initiatives such as the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) program, and CDC's State-based Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity programs. These initiatives build upon existing public health recommendations.

CDC Report Outlines Multiple Solutions

The report recommends individual, community, state and national government efforts.

All people can:

• Eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer foods high in fat and sugar.
• Drink more water instead of sugary drinks.
• Be more physically active.
• Watch less television.
• Support breastfeeding.  [PDF - 1.30 MB]
• Promote policies and programs at school, at work, and in the community that make the healthy choice the easy choice.

Communities can:

• Create and maintain safe neighborhoods for physical activity and improve access to parks and playgrounds.
• Advocate for quality physical education in schools  [PDF - 627 KB] and childcare facilities.
• Encourage breastfeeding through peer-to-peer support  [PDF - 155 KB] programs.
• Support programs that bring local fruits and vegetables  [PDF - 255 KB] to schools, businesses, and communities.

State and local health departments can:

• Provide supermarkets and farmers' markets  [PDF - 198 KB] with incentives to establish their businesses in low-income areas and to offer healthy foods.
• Expand programs that bring local fruits and vegetables  [PDF - 266 KB] to schools, businesses, and communities.
• Support hospital programs  [PDF - 187 KB] that encourage breastfeeding.
• Adopt policies that promote bicycling and public transportation  [PDF - 138 KB].

The U.S. Government has Responded to the Obesity Epidemic

• CDC's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity and the Communities Putting Prevention to Work programs improve nutrition and physical activity, and prevent obesity through changing policies and environments. CDC provided $139 million to 50 states and $373 million to 30 communities or tribes to fund programs to reverse the obesity epidemic.
• To eliminate food deserts in 7 years, the National Healthy Food Financing Initiative brings healthy foods to communities that do not currently have access to supermarkets and grocery stores.
• Childhood obesity is also a growing problem.
  • First Lady Michelle Obama launched the "Let's Move" initiative for childhood obesity prevention.
  • The Childhood Obesity Task Force, appointed by President Obama, released 70 recommendations to prevent and control childhood obesity. Government, business and communities working together on these approaches will help to prevent obesity.

The MMWR report is based on new data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is the states' source of data for monitoring Healthy People 2010 objectives. To assess obesity prevalence, about  400,000 survey respondents are asked to provide their height and weight, which is used to calculate their body mass index (BMI). A person is considered obese if they have a BMI of 30 or above.