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Report: Arkansas ranked 8th, tied with Oklahoma, for obesity Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas continues to be ranked in the top 10 in adult obesity rates, according to a study released Tuesday. In the annual report by the Trust for American's Health, Arkansas ranked 8th, tied with Oklahoma, with 28.1 percent of adults obese, up from 27 percent last year. Mississippi was the heaviest with 31.7 percent of its adult population obese, and Colorado was the leanest with 18.4 percent, according to the study. Twenty-eight states had adult obesity rates of more than 25 percent. "Even though communities have started taking action, considering the scope of the problem, the country's response has been severely limited," Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said in a news release. In Arkansas, Dr. Arlo Kahn, a professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and senior policy advisor for the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, said Tuesday that Arkansas' continued high ranking was not surprising. Arkansas' efforts in the past few years to fight obesity have focused mainly on children, not adults, he said, noting the Legislature has passed laws requiring screenings for weight problems in children, along with physical and nutritional guidelines for schools. Those initiatives have caused the number of obese children to "level off" but have not actually reduced the number of overweight school-age children, Kahn said. "What is very clear is that even though we've done a lot of effort, primarily in schools, it is not adequate to turn all these things around," Kahn said. In May, during a one-day summit on obesity in Arkansas, about 100 people representing a variety of professions, including doctors, government officials, insurance companies and faith groups, met and developed a series of recommendations on how the state can reduce the obesity rate among children and adults. Those recommendations are to be discussed during a joint meeting of the Senate and House Public Health, Welfare and Labor committees today. Some of the recommendations include increased physical activity in schools; requiring restaurants to label their menus so patrons can see how many calories are in the food they are eating; changing zoning law to require new residential subdivisions to include bike paths, sidewalks and parks with each street; requiring health insurers to cover counseling treatment for obesity; and requiring all companies with state contracts to have vending machines with at least 50 percent health foods. Kahn and Debra Pate, spokesman for the Center for Health Improvement, both said more needs to be done to combat the obesity in Arkansas. "Obesity is an epidemic and the result of gradual lifestyle changes," Pate said. If new policies are not implemented, it might be too late to save many people now struggling with obesity, Kahn. "If we don't implement new polices there is really no hope," he said. "If we stay with we're doing now, (obesity) will not reverse." |
