Pate confident state will reverse course

STATE-BY-STATE ADULT OBESITY RANKINGS

1: Mississippi*; 2: Alabama; 3: West Virginia; 4: Louisiana*; 5: Kentucky*; 6: Tennessee; 7: Arkansas*; 8 (tie): Indiana*, South Carolina*; 10: Texas; 11: Michigan; 12: Georgia*; 13: Oklahoma*; 14: Missouri*; 15 (tie): Ohio*, Alaska; 17: North Carolina*; 18: North Dakota; 19: Pennsylvania*; 20: Nebraska*; 21: Iowa; 22: South Dakota*; 23: Illinois*; 24: Maryland*; 25: Virginia; 26: Kansas; 27: Minnesota; 28: Wisconsin*; 29: Delaware*; 30 California*; 31 (tie): Idaho*, Washington*; 33: Oregon*; 34: Maine; 35: Florida*; 36 (tie): Wyoming*, New Hampshire*, New York; 39: District of Columbia; 40 (tie): New Jersey*, New Mexico*; 42: Nevada; 43 (tie): Arizona, Utah*; 45: Montana; 46: Connecticut*; 47 (tie): Rhode Island*, Vermont; 49: Massachusetts*; 50: Hawaii; 51: Colorado.

Note: 1 = Highest rate of adult obesity, 51 = lowest. Rankings are based on combining three years of data (2003-2005) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Surveillance System to "stabilize" data for comparison purposes. * identifies states with statistically significant increases.

Dr. Russ Pate is not an Old Testament prophet, but his message has that kind of ring: South Carolinians must solve the problem of increasing obesity “because our health and well-being depend on it.”

Pate, a professor of exercise science at the Arnold School of Public Health, commented following an Aug. 29 Trust for America’s Health report that finds 26.1 percent of all adults in South Carolina are obese, making the state the eighth heaviest in the nation.

The report, “Fat as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2006” also noted that South Carolina was one of 31 states where obesity rates rose in the past year.

Regionally, the South was found to be the "Biggest Belt." It is home to nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of obesity. The southern region is also home to nine out of 10 states with the highest rates of diabetes and hypertension, two major health problems often related to obesity.

South Carolina ranks third in the nation for adult diabetes levels, at 9.3 percent, and ranks sixth for rates of hypertension at 29.7 percent.

Pate said that obesity is endemic to South Carolina because the state has large numbers of poor residents who are less physically active and prone to a diet high in fat and calories.

There is no magic bullet to make the issue go away, said Pate adding, “Solving the obesity problem will take numerous changes at the personal, home/family, community, media, public policy, worksite and clinical levels.”

Dr. Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, said that the obesity problem was worsening because, “Quick fixes and limited government programs have failed to stem the tide.

The 'fad diet' approach does not work for individuals, and it's not going to work for our nation's obesity crisis either. Government must step up and provide sustainable funding for sound, long-term policies that produce significant results." Levi said.

Pate said government and the private sector share some responsibility for contributing to the obesity problem.

“We need to stop building effort-saving innovations into our lives - we've gone much further than needed to improve our efficiency and quality of life,” Pate said, “Example - does the Columbia Metropolitan Airport really need moving sidewalks on its one, 50-yard long concourse? Of course not,” he said.

• The full report with complete state rankings in all categories is available at www.healthyamericans.org.