By Amy Winterfeld

Anyone who’s ever struggled with their weight (and that’s a lot of us) may or may not have been waiting with bated breath for the 2013 state obesity data just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Results are mixed but hold some bright spots for state legislators.

Obesity rates among American adults in 2013 remain high. No state has an obesity rate below 21 percent and rates have risen in six states—Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Wyoming. Obesity rates now exceed 35 percent in two states for the first time and 20 states have obesity rates at or above 30 percent. NCSL has posted the complete 50-state map. Obesity rates, note the CDC and health leaders at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, continue to be disproportionately higher in the South, among lower-income Americans and among racial and ethnic minorities.

Still, signs of progress have emerged for Americans fighting obesity and concerned about the health costs it generates for state budgets and its potential health consequences such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Some data show lower obesity rates among preschool children, which is especially encouraging because research shows that people who avoid obesity early on are much more likely to maintain a healthy adult weight. We also now know more about a range of constructive healthy communities policy approaches to addressing obesity, providing state lawmakers with a range of policy options. 

Policies that provide opportunities for healthy eating and active living in communities can also bring economic development and healthier environments to communities and schools. State legislators have championed school breakfast, innovated with standards for nutritious school foods, bolstered both the healthy food supply chain to schools and marketing opportunities for agricultural producers with farm to school programs, stepped up for safe routes to school, removed barriers to community gardens and urban agriculture, helped to develop Complete Streets to encourage more bicycling and walking and opened up healthier food options for lower-income Americans by enabling use of electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards at farmers markets.

As health care cost increases continue to draw the attention of state legislators, policy options to address obesity remain an avenue to prevent this costly chronic condition.