Get the Facts

The Epidemic

A soaring obesity rate amongst all age groups is one of the biggest public health challenges we have faced as a country.  The increasing obesity rate seen in our younger age group is perhaps the most troubling.  Today, nearly a third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese.  That breaks down to more than 23 million kids and teenagers.

Also troubling are the large disparities of obesity rates among different nationalities, and access to health foods and safe places to play.  A study of more than 200 neighborhoods found four times as many supermarkets in predominantly white neighborhoods as in black neighborhoods. And communities with high levels of poverty are significantly less likely to have places where people can be physically active, such as parks, green spaces, and bike paths and lanes.

The Challenge

If we don’t work together now, to reverse this obesity epidemic our nation is experiencing we will be raising children who live sicker and die younger than any generation before them.  Habits are taught at an early age, and those that are taught and learned as a child, often remain through adulthood. As a result it is critical that we are teaching our young ones the importance of regular physical activity and smart eating habits.  We also need to work together as a nation to remove the barriers that millions face  - like the high cost of healthy foods and lack of access to safe places to be physically active – that make healthy choices challenging.

Get More Facts

• Report: F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010
  A report by Trust for America’s Health  – National focus
• Report: MN Ranks 32^nd Most Obese State in Nation
  A report by Trust for America’s Health – Minnesota focus
• Website: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  Reversing the Childhood Obesity Epidemic
• Website: American’s Health Rankings
  Projected Prevalence and Cost of Obesity in MN
  
  

•