Louisiana Ranks 4th Most Obese State in the Nation

New Report: Louisiana Ranks 4th Most Obese State in the Nation; Rates Rose from Last Year

Washington, D.C. August 19, 2008 - Louisiana was named the 4th most obese state in America according to the fifth annual F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2008 report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The state's adult obesity rate is 29.5 percent, an increase from last year.

Nationally, adult obesity rates rose in 37 states in the past year. Rates rose for a second consecutive year in 24 states and for a third consecutive year in 19 states. No state saw a decrease. Though many promising policies have emerged to promote physical activity and good nutrition in communities, the report concludes that they are not being adopted or implemented at levels needed to turn around this health crisis.

The television is littered with ads for weight loss pills and exercise dvds. People are buying them, the weight loss monster is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. So people ARE buying products, but what are they doing with them? Do they not work?

Pills don't work without exercise and alot of people don't understand that. I'm not going to bash weight loss pills or products. However most people do go at their weight loss goals alone, without individuals who think the same way.

Everyone has a friend or family member that consciously or unconsciously tries to sabotage their quest to a hot body. "You can't eat just one piece of cake?" or "C'mon just one po-boy won't kill you this week." These are our friends right? Why they don't help us out we may never know. What is known though is the fact that if you surround yourself with people who want the same goals/things as you, you are much more likely to achieve it.

Think about alcoholics, smokers, or gamblers, they all use groups to quit. Same for anger management classes or when companies want to come up with new ideas; they form a group and brainstorm. Groups with average members with a common goal get more done then even the best individual performers. Team Xcelerate's FitFunCamps and Youth Athletic Development programs help families experience new and fun ways to get and stay fit.

More than 25 percent of adults are obese in 28 states, which is an increase from 19 states last year. More than 20 percent of adults are obese in every state except Colorado. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent. In 1980, the national average of obese adults was 15 percent. Now, an estimated two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, and an estimated 23 million children are either overweight or obese (the report does not include new state-level data for children this year).

Rates of type 2 diabetes, a disease typically associated with obesity, increased in 26 states last year, including in Louisiana. Four states now have diabetes rates that are above 10 percent, and all 10 states with the highest rates of diabetes and hypertension are in the South. Louisiana ranks 8th highest in type 2 diabetes, with 9.5 percent of the population affected, and it ranks 7th highest for hypertension. The report also found a relationship between poverty and obesity levels. Seven of the 10 states with the highest obesity rates are also in the top 10 for highest poverty rates, including Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and West Virginia. Rounding out the top 10 for highest poverty rates are the District of Columbia, New Mexico, and Texas.

Team Xcelerate hopes that children and adults will join us on the road to good health. Take a moment to visit our website and see how we can help.