Virginia Stuck in the Pudgy Middle of Latest Obesity Standings

Local student making inroads on Lyme disease, Area still covered with power outages, Obesity breakdown and Snowstorm damage

Virginia Wine Hounds

Defining Food Allergies

Virginia man snagged in Craigslist sex sting, Dulles AeroTrain to debut next month, Herndon High School students meet with POTUS, NoVA’s job numbers improving, More students walking to cut cost and Fight at Loudoun’s Broad Run High School may be linked to gang

Gut Check

Virginia Stuck in the Pudgy Middle of Latest Obesity Standings

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

IBeatAnorexia

(Image: Newsgroper)

According to the “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009” report issued today, just over a quarter (25.4 percent) of adult Virginians qualify as obese (demarcated by having a body mass index above 30 percent)–making us the 28th fattest state in the union.

On the upside, the Trust for America’s Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that we’ve at least not gotten any heavier in the past 12 months (obesity rates creeped up in 23 other states since their last investigation).

More troubling is the fact that nearly a third (roughly 31 percent) of Virginia youths, ages 10-17, qualify as overweight or obese.

And that only 26.2 percent of kids 6-17 report engaging in “vigorous physical activity” on a daily basis.

The suspected culprits are myriad but hardly mysterious:

* Americans consume an average of 300 more calories per day than they did 25 years ago and eat less nutritious foods;

* Nutritious foods are significantly more expensive than calorie-dense, less nutritious foods;

* Americans walk less and drive more — even for trips of less than one mile;

* Parks and recreation spaces are not considered safe or well maintained in many communities;

* Many school lunches do not meet nutrition standards and children engage in less physical activity in school;

* Increased screen time (TV, computers, video games) contributes to decreased activity, particularly for children; and

* Adults often work longer hours and commute farther.

Nothing cryptic here, folks.

Just a reminder of the importance of staying on top of your personal “calories in, calories out” calculations.