IN ILLINOIS A DISTURBING TREND – One in Four Obese!
IN ILLINOIS A DISTURBING TREND – One in Four Obese!
IL ONE OF 32 STATES WHERE 25% OR MORE OF ADULTS ARE SERIOUSLY OVERWEIGHT!
It’s a disturbing trend with long-ranging health implications – not only across the State of Illinois but in the majority of other U.S. States as well.
According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released yesterday one out of every four adults in Illinois is what they consider to be statistically obese – those with a Body Mass Index a ratio of weight to height in excess of 30%.
Unfortunately the obesity trend is not headed in the right direction as reported in the Chicago Tribune Triage Blog yesterday by Reporter Judith Graham. In 1989 no U.S. State had more than a 15% adult obesity rate using the benchmark. In 1991 four states exceeded the average BMI mark.
Indiana and Kentucky exceeded the 20% obesity mark in 1996 while Mississippi was the first state where more than 25% of its adult residents were considered overweight eight years ago. In 2005 Mississippi along with Louisiana and West Virgina passed the 30% obesity threshold.
As a state IL is far from the most obese but the trend toward adult obesity here has been growing at an alarming rate.
According to historic CDC statistics fewer than 10% of adults in Illinois were considered obese in 1985. By 1987 the percentage of those obese across the state grew to as much as 14%. Seven years later the estimated obesity percentage statewide ballooned to as much as 19 percent. Today CDC estimates that as many as 29% of Illinoisans could be in the range of statistically-defined obesity.
When you consider that being considerably overweight increases your chances to contract heart disease diabetes and other significant ailments an overweight populous increases overall health care expenses. One study by the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality calculates that health care expenses for overweight adults increased to over $303 Billion in 2006 up 80% from the estimated $166.7 Billion expenditure five years earlier.
Younger people many of whom do not exercise nearly enough and also gorge on far-too-much unhealthy fast foods account for a considerable portion of the obese establishment here in IL. In research released last week the Trust for Public Health released a study showing that nearly 21% of young people across Illinois are overweight – many seriously so.
Graham’s post offers a link to U.S. Weight Trends released by the CDC.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO
