WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A new report finds obesity rates increased in every state but Oregon, which managed to hold the line.
The study by Trust for America's Health says Mississippi has the highest obesity rate in the country, followed by Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana and Tennessee. Colorado has the lowest.
The percentage of obese adults in the country rose from 23.7 in 2003 to 24.5 in 2004. Even in the U.S. military, 16 percent of active-duty personnel are obese and it is the largest single cause of discharge.
"We have reached a state of policy paralysis in regard to obesity," said Shelley A. Hearne, executive director of the trust. "We need more and better data so we can make decisions to get out of the debate limbo in which we are stuck. We have a crisis of poor nutrition and physical inactivity in the U.S. and it's time we dealt with it."
The group says the federal government and states have failed to change policies on a host of things from community design to food stamps to school lunches to deal with the obesity epidemic.
