Twenty-nine percent of Maine adults are obese. That's according to a report released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America's Health. The Trust's president and CEO John Auerbach says the rate is better than many states, but it's still disturbingly high.
"If we look 10, 15 years ago, then the rate is 50 percent of what it is now," he says. "So we've become as a nation accustomed to the idea of these much higher rates."
Auerbach says Maine's obesity rate hasn't changed muh in recent years, and those who live in rural areas in particular face obstacles in lowering their weight.
"And they appear to be related not to people's intent to change," he says, "but to the conditions in their lives, and whether or not that makes it possible to change."
Auerbach says more Americans are aware of the health dangers of obesity but face obstacles in lowering their weight. He says it will take all sectors of society to implement policies to support healthy communities, from required physical activity time at school to city planning that promotes walkable communities.
