A new report says Nebraska had the nation's 23rd highest adult obesity rate in 2013.
That's according to the Associated Press, which reports the Trust for America's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that 29.6% of adults in Nebraska were obese last year.
This is nearly a 2% jump from the previous year.
Nebraska's obesity rate was higher than in Colorado and Wyoming but lower than its neighboring states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and South Dakota.
The Dorchester Times did its own research and found Saline County is a bit heavier than the average Nebraska county.
More than 31% of Saline County residents -- nearly one in every three -- are obese, according to health data. The definition of obese is "the condition of being grossly fat or overweight." The medical definition is having a body mass index (fat to muscle ratio) in excess of 30.
Meanwhile, obesity rates have tripled nationwide since 1980. The age group where the rates are growing the fastest? Children.
Parents take the blame for this, but our society on the whole is the problem. Kids lack the ability to buy and choose their own food. They’re at the mercy of what the rest of us give them. One of the biggest causes in our bad nutrition is that we’re reluctant to eat at home, opting instead for fatty, high-carbohydrate fast food, sodas and convenience food (such as cereals, so-called 'nutrition bars', and the like).
In 2009, almost 50% of our food spending was made on fast food or other food not cooked at home. When we do eat at home, it's typically lots of starches, breads and processed foods -- which pack on the pounds. It's actually rare to see families dine around the table nowadays, sharing lean meat, cooked veggies and fruits, and a glass of skim milk.
We hope Dorchester parents (and teens who are old enough to know better) are making wiser choices.
I'm sooooooooo glad we have Obama care to take care of all those fatties who eat only fast food and convenience store sofa, beer and snacks.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine anyone who could eat a whole sofa would be WAAAY overweight! :-D
DeleteWhatever blog, not everyone can afford to sit behind a computer and take shots and overweight people. The overweight just can't afford to eat healty, you cant blame them. come to lincoln where i live and quit living in your sheltered world in hicksville.
ReplyDeleteYoud better be nice to those of us who are big and beautiful because we outnumber you and were the new opprosed minority.
Overweight people are FAT because they take in more calories than they burn. OK? This ain't rocket science.
DeleteThey need to get off their FAT BUTTS and burn some calories.
DUH!
PS-"big and beautiful" is an oxymoron.
You demonstrate the obesity epidemic in our nation succinctly - continuing to make excuses for that which we have control yet are too lazy to do anything about. Unless we stop blaming others or our circumstances for what we should be taking charge of ourselves our nation will only continue to get fatter. It's less about economics and more about making healthy choices. Even the poverty stricken get to choose what they put in their body.
DeleteSo you're saying if I come to Lincoln where you live I can be a fat person sitting behind their computer taking shots at those living in 'Hicksville'? No thanks.
Complaining is easy. Provide solutions. HBO: The Weight of the Nation http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/
Appearance is one thing. Actually I don't care if you're tattooed on your face or you are so fat you can't find clothes that fit. What you do with your body is your choice.
ReplyDeleteWhat I DO care about is how overweight people disproportionately use our medical facilities and insurance dollars. From diabetes to heart complications to higher rates of cancer, our nation's obesity CRISIS is bankrupting our federal and state governments, which is owned by "we the people."
I don't have the figures, but any observer can tell you that the majority of people on welfare (HHS assistance for the politically correct) are overweight.
Stop the madness. Stop the insanity. Stop paying for the medical bills of those who refuse to eat better or exercise. Tie ObamaCare subsidies, welfare, etc. to diet restrictions, I say.
Are you kidding me? I pay for my insurance, I am morbidly obese, but I have low cholesterol and low blood pressure. I am healthier than many people who are thin, except for my Rheumatiod Arthritis, which has nothing to do with weight, my bones will deteriorate if i'm 100 lbs or 600 lbs, my weight only exacerbates the pain from it. BUT... you're saying that because I'm fat I shouldn't be allowed access to medical services?
ReplyDeleteDo you also realize that those welfare people you are whining about are on a tight budget and processed food is cheaper than produce these days? You can't get perishables from the food bank, and the other programs have few perishables because they're, well, perishable.
So, what about the people who smoke or drink and have health issues from that? Should they be not allowed medical care also?
Hardeeharharharharrrrrr ................................ good to finally see the little bloggers get hung with their own rope .............................................. they are the ones who are always trying to be so proper and so articulate ............................................ now they have every fat person in saline county pissed ............................................................. watch out bloggers ........................................... theyll sit on you and squish you like the bugs you are............................................................... or just eat your food ........................................................but you really should be more sensitive about overweight persons ................. as our great nations founder george washington once said .......................... fatty fatty two by four ................................. cant fit through the bathroom door ...................................................... yep he said it ......................................... google it ..........................
ReplyDelete