More Floridians Porking Out

Aug 28, 09:23 AM

Current Headlines: By Fred Tasker, The Miami Herald

Aug. 28--Florida, and the nation, got fatter last year, as obesity rates continued their climb in 31 states while no state showed a decline, according to a report released Monday by the Trust for America's Health.

Florida's numbers got worse for the fourth straight year:

--In 2007, 22.9 percent of Floridians were considered obese -- meaning their Body Mass Index, a ratio of fat to lean tissue, was 30 percent or higher -- putting Florida 34th among all states.

--In 2006, Florida ranked 35th, with 21.8 percent of its people obese.

--In 2005, Florida had the 38th highest rate, at 20.7 percent.

--In 2004, Florida had the 43rd highest rate, at 19.9 percent.

"We have a population that is simply consuming more calories than it's burning off," said Gennie Hefelfinger, chief of chronic disease prevention for the Florida Department of Health.

"It's going to take real behavioral change to improve this. We need to be more active physically and to manage our caloric intake based on our sex, height and weight," she said.

Florida fared better than many Southern states. The study said 10 of the 15 states with the largest percentage of obese adults are in the South. And Mississippi became the first state to crack the 30 percent barrier, according to the trust, a research group that focuses on disease prevention.

Colorado continued as the leanest state in the nation with an obesity rate projected at 17.6 percent.

This year's report for the first time looked at rates of overweight children age 10 to 17. The District of Columbia had the highest percentage -- 22.8 percent. Utah had the lowest percentage of overweight youth -- 8.5 percent. Florida youth came in 21st, at 14.4 percent.

The trust could not provide youth statistics for other years. But in 2005, a survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that: --In Broward County, 12 percent of youth were overweight, 16 percent were at risk of becoming overweight and 58 percent did not attend physical education classes.

--In Miami-Dade County, 12 percent of youth were overweight, 16 percent were at risk of becoming overweight and 55 percent did not attend physical education classes.

In response, the 2007 Florida Legislature passed a bill requiring Florida students from kindergarten through fifth grade to have at least 150 minutes a week of physical activity.

And in Tampa last week, Gov. Charlie Crist convened the first meeting of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness -- 20 members charged with creating a state plan to encourage regular exercise and sound nutrition, especially among the state's youth.

Part of that effort was Shaq's Big Challenge, an summertime ABC TV show that told the story of six overweight Broward County middle-schoolers meeting with the Miami Heat star as part of an effort to lose weight.

Health officials say the latest state rankings provide evidence that the nation has a public health crisis. The trust reported a new public opinion poll that found 85 percent of Americans believe that obesity is an epidemic.

"Unfortunately, we're treating it like a mere inconvenience instead of the emergency that it is," Dr. James Marks, senior vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy devoted to improving health care, told the Associated Press.

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