The advocacy group, Trust for America's Health, says data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the percentage of obese adults for 2002-04 stand at 22.7 percent nationally. The percentage for the previous cycle, 2001-03, was 22 percent, The Associated Press reports.
The state exhibiting the largest increase in obesity was Alabama. There, the rate increased 1.5 percentage points to 27.7 percent. Oregon's rate held steady at 21 percent.
The states with the lowest percentage of obese adults are Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont and Montana. Hawaii was not included in the report.
An official with the Trust for America's Health said the United States is stuck in a "debate limbo" about how the government should confront obesity. She used the report to call for more government action on several fronts, such as ensuring that land use plans promote physical activity; that school lunch programs serve healthier meals; and that Medicaid recipients get access to subsidized fitness programs, such as aerobics classes at the local YMCA.
