COLUMBUS – Ohio is among only five states that saw rising rates of adult obesity last year. The state was also one of eight with increasing rates of diabetes.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
An annual report from the nonprofit groups Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that was released on Monday found mostly steady — but still troublingly high — rates of obesity nationwide.
Increases were seen in Ohio, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico and Utah.
In 2014, 32.6 percent of Ohio adults were obese, based on self-reported survey data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 30.4 percent in 2013 and 24.4 percent a decade prior.
Twenty-two states have obesity rates above 30 percent. Extra weight increases the risk of health problems, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. The CDC has put a $147 billion annual price tag on the medical cost of obesity nationwide.
The 2014 numbers make Ohio the eighth-most-obese state, behind mostly southern states and West Virginia. Arkansas topped the list at 35.9 percent, and Colorado had the fewest obese adults at 21.3 percent.
In Ohio, 11.7 percent of adults had diabetes last year, putting the state in the ninth-worst slot nationwide. Health officials estimate that there will be 1.6 million cases of diabetes in Ohio by 2030 if increases continue at the current pace.