Report: 21% in state too obese

Better jump on the treadmill, Arizona. The state’s residents are just as obese as ever, according to statistics released this week.

Arizona’s adult obesity rate was projected at 21.7 percent, making it the 43rd-heaviest state in the nation, according to Trust for America’s Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention.

That rate was an increase of just under a percentage point from the previous survey.

While only seven states were less obese than Arizona, Trust for America spokeswoman Laura Segal said the numbers still are troubling.

“While states like Arizona are on the lower end of the spectrum, it’s still pretty alarming from a health point of view,” Segal said. “It’s putting people at increased risk for a range of health problems.”

States that weighed less than Arizona include Montana, Massachusetts and Hawaii. Colorado was the leanest state at an obesity rate of 17.6 percent. Mississippi was the heaviest state at a rate of 30.6 percent.

Ellen Larson, a health sciences professor at Northern Arizona University, said fighting obesity starts in elementary schools, which she said need to have mandatory daily physical education classes.

“Healthy habits are established very young, and it’s so much more difficult if children are sedentary and obese in these early ages to turn that around later,” she said.

As for adults, Larson said anything people can do to move around is helpful.

“It’s better to just get out and get moving and do something rather than do nothing because you can’t squeeze in a 25-minute workout with Lycra and spandex and special shoes,” she said. “Walk up stairs instead of using the elevator, don’t park your car an inch away from the door, or take the opportunity to walk or ride a bike to work.”

Margaret Tate, chief of the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Nutrition Services at the Arizona Department of Health Services, said it’s going to take a while for people to fully understand how unhealthy being obese is and to act on that knowledge.

“It’s very similar to tobacco, where it’s taken years for people to quit smoking,” she said. “I don’t think there’s going to be an easy solution that’s going to happen overnight.”

The problem, she said, weighs heavier on those with lower incomes. A 2006 DHS report showed that the highest prevalence of obesity in Arizona was in those whose incomes were between $15,000 and $25,000 a year.

Tate said people with lower incomes can get in some exercise with a simple walk, and if they must eat at fast-food restaurants, they can choose salads instead of french fries.

Carol Kotek, a 64-year-old Peoria resident, said she tries to eat well, and hikes, swims and plays golf to stay in shape.

“You wonder why people would just want to sit around. It’s so boring,” Kotek said outside of an aerobics class at a Phoenix gym.