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Wyoming Obesity Rate Stable

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A new report reveals 29 percent of adults in Wyoming are obese, which puts Wyoming in 30th place nationwide.

The report was released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health. Spokesman Don Schwarz says Wyoming’s numbers have remained stable in the last few years. But when you look at the long term trends, the outlook is more problematic. In the mid-90s only 15 percent of Wyoming adults were overweight. Since then, obesity rates have doubled.

Most other state’s remained stable as well, but four states—Minnesota, Montana, New York, and Ohio—actually saw decreases in the number of obese adults. Schwarz says this could be the result of policies to address obesity in children, like implementing healthy school lunches and physical activity during the school day.

“So we know that making school environments healthier needs to be made the rule, rather than the exception,” Schwarz says. “In addition, we believe that making sure that very young children—children even before they get to school—are at a healthy weight. That becomes important in assuring when they become adults, they’re adults at a healthy weight.”

Schwarz adds that obesity can lead to diabetes, a disease that doubled in Wyoming in 2014—which is now up to nine percent of the state’s population.

Maggie Mullen is Wyoming Public Radio's regional reporter with the Mountain West News Bureau. Her work has aired on NPR, Marketplace, Science Friday, and Here and Now. She was awarded a 2019 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for her story on the Black 14.
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