Health News
Nearly two-thirds of adults in Kentucky will be obese by 2030 if rates continue to climb as they are now, an analysis reported Tuesday. The level of obesity, defined as being roughly 30 or more pounds overweight, is projected to reach 60.1 percent in Kentucky in 2030, up from 30.4 percent in 2011, according to an analysis commissioned by the nonprofit Trust for America?s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Nancy Hellmich and Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal in Louisville report that if states? obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension, and arthritis could increase 10 times between 2010 and 2020, and double again by 2030. Medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases could increase by up to $66 billion per year by 2030, and the loss in economic productivity could be as high as $580 billion annually. (Read more)
The joint report also shows that states could prevent obesity-related diseases and dramatically reduce health care costs if they reduced the average body mass index (BMI) of their residents by just 5 percent by 2030. Doing so would spare millions of Americans serious health problems, and the country could save billions of dollars in health spending. See the interactive map showing how much improvement could be made if that small change were made here.
The report also features a series of joint policy recommendations from TFAH and RWJF, including full implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, protection of the federal health reform law's Prevention and Public Health Fund, and inclusion of additional physical education and activity components in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. To download the full report, go here.
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Health News
Report: Two-thirds of Kentuckians obese by 2030 if trends continue; cost to nation's future unquestionably high
The joint report also shows that states could prevent obesity-related diseases and dramatically reduce health care costs if they reduced the average body mass index (BMI) of their residents by just 5 percent by 2030. Doing so would spare millions of Americans serious health problems, and the country could save billions of dollars in health spending. See the interactive map showing how much improvement could be made if that small change were made here.
The report also features a series of joint policy recommendations from TFAH and RWJF, including full implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, protection of the federal health reform law's Prevention and Public Health Fund, and inclusion of additional physical education and activity components in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. To download the full report, go here.
- Five Things You Can Start Doing Today To Decrease Your Risk Of Getting Diabetes, Which Affects One Of Every 10 Kentuckians
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Diabetes is a real problem in Kentucky and one that is not projected to get any better. You may be at risk of getting it, but there are things you can do to decrease your risk of becoming diabetic. "Type 2 diabetes...
- Ama Calls Obesity A Disease; Could Spur Coverage For Treatment
The American Medical Association now recognizes obesity as a disease, which may make it easier for Kentuckians to fight the state's obesity epidemic by gaining insurance coverage for necessary medical treatment. Under the leadership of newly...
- The World Is Getting Fatter, But Kentucky's Rate Of Obesity Is Two And A Half Times The World Rate
Take no solace from The Economist, which proclaims in its yearly analysis-and-prognostication issue that this is the year world leaders will take on worldwide obesity because, writes Charlotte Howard, "they will realize something must be done." So,...
- Kentucky's Obesity Rate And Ranking Are Better Than Last Year, But The Figures May Not Be Truly Comparable
The percentage of Kentucky adults who are obese is smaller than its was, but the state is still 10th in the country, according to a new, influential analysis by Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report...
- 42 Percent Of Americans Will Be Obese By 2030, Study Predicts
If trends continue, 42 percent of American adults will be obese by 2030 and about one quarter of whom will be grossly obese, a new study warns. The results are only slightly less troubling than those published four years ago, which forecast that 51 percent...