From our friends at Treehugger.com

“Both images–taken from the F Is For Fat report [PDF]–show obesity trends in the US among adults, the top from 1991 and the bottom from 2007-2009.

The lightest blue areas have less than 10% obesity rates, the next two blue shades represent 10-20% obesity rates. This is where we were in 1991, with no state in the US (which reported data, the white areas didn’t report) having greater than 20% obesity.

The purple is 20-25% obesity, followed by red at 25-30% and orange at greater than 30%. Note that only one state in the 2007-2009 timeframe, Colorado, is in the blue range.

Today our statistically thinnest state has a 19.1% obesity rate among adults, combined obese and overweight is 55.6%. Our fattest, Mississippi (which was also in the bulging ranks twenty years ago) has an obesity rate of 33.8%, and a combined rate of 68.6%.”

I find this fascinating.  In 20 years, as a nation, we have gotten A LOT fatter.  In the same period of time health care costs have skyrocketed, cancer rates have risen, etc etc.  Coincidence?  I think not.  When I go to the grocery store now, all I can find is heavily processed food if I stray from the perimeter of the store (and even there it is getting pretty bad these days).  EVERYTHING has sugar added to it.  Even at places like Whole Foods, the majority of the foods sold are decidedly not whole.  I have made crackers before.  Pretty easy recipe, flour, salt, yeast, water.  Try finding crackers in the grocery store that have less than 20 ingredients.  We really have no idea what effect all of this processed food has on the body – it is all too new.  One thing we do know is that people are eating a lot more of it and obesity rates are blowing up.  This has to change.

Tags: colorado, healthcare, obesity, obesity in america