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A study published yesterday by the Trust for America’s Health found that while the rhetoric on obesity in the US is front and centre, a large number of Americans are doing very little to improve their state.

The report, titled “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America”, indicated that not one state in America has shown improvement in their adult obesity rates.

Thirty-one states saw an increase in the number of obese residents, while 22 of these saw an increase for the second year in a row. Not a single state experienced a reduction in obesity rates.

Mississippi leads the list with the highest rate of adult obesity in the country for the third year in a row. It is also the first state to reach an obesity rate of over 30 percent (at 30.6%).

Colorado was the leanest state again this year, however, its adult obesity rate increased over the past year going from 16.9 to 17.6%.

“Rates of adult obesity now exceed 25% in 19 states, an increase from 14 states last year and 9 in 2005,” explains a statement about the study (opens in PDF). “In 1991, none of the states exceeded 20 percent.”

Adults are not the only ones suffering from this steady increase. Rates of overweight children ages 10 to 17 have been highest in Washington, D.C. sitting at 23% and were the lowest in Utah at 8.5%.

"The rate of childhood obesity more than tripled from 1980 to 2004. Approximately 25 million children are now either obese or overweight," the study also said.

"No state is doing well. We have seen a dramatic increase throughout the country," said Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust, quotes a Reuters report.

Eight of the ten states with the highest rates of overweight children were located in Southern United States.

Low to no exercise & poor nutrition

The report points out that 22% of American adults do not engage in physical activity, and while every state requires some type of physical education in school, many have limited programs or do not enforce them.

Poor eating habits are also blamed in what many call an obesity epidemic, which is sweeping the United States.

"People are eating more and being less active," says Dr. James Marks, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which helped pay for the report - quoted by Reuters.

"About a quarter of people eat fast food every day. The amount of calories has gone up. The quality of lunches in schools has gone down."

The data for the study was taken from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducts interviews every year with tens of thousands of people through various health surveys.

All must work toward improvement

The Trust for America’s Health is appealing to the US government to take action and quickly in order to but a damper on what is fast becoming a modern plague.

"The federal government should develop and implement a National Strategy to Combat Obesity," said the organization's statement. They also recommend that Federal, State and Local governments put new policy in place that would give Americans the tools they need to make it easier to perform the recommended levels of physical activity and choose healthy foods.

These could range from improving food served, increasing opportunities for physical activity in schools or requiring restaurants and food companies to provide better and more readily accessible information about the nutritional content.