Even as Colorado ranked once again as the skinniest of the nation's states, officials there are lamenting their increasing obesity rates, particularly among young people.
Colorado's obesity rate among children is rising faster than all but one other state, and it's ranked at 23rd for obese children.
"Great, we're the leading state, but we've doubled our obesity rate in the past 25 years," said Tracy Faigin Boyle, vice president of marketing for LiveWell Colorado, a non-profit that strives to reduce the state's waistlines. "It's like being the best of the worst."
Shepard Nevel, vice president of policy at the Colorado Health Foundation, called it the "Colorado paradox." Everyone believes the state is healthy because it's healthier than all the other states, and, for that reason, it's hard to motivate Coloradans to address the issue. But in 1995, Mississippi was the fattest state in the nation with 19.4% of adults in the overweight category.
"By 2010, we had exceeded that," Nevel said. "That's a sign of an epidemic."
Colorado has the third-lowest concentration of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, but the "healthiest state" still pays $16.5 billion a year in health care costs, Nevel said. More than half the state is overweight.
Like other states, they're finding that obesity -- in both adults and children -- correlates with poverty. Colorado kids spend more time now than in the past in front of video games and TVs; they're eating more junk food; they're not playing outside; and families aren't eating together, Boyle said.
Healthy kids do better in school and score higher on tests, Boyle said. And recent studies have shown that overweight kids are more likely to have eating disorders, are more prone to depression, are at risk for substance abuse and may develop heart disease faster than normal-weight kids.
Colorado officials hope to lead the states in addressing the problem by asking businesses to get involved. Businesses have helped pay for a program that teaches children how to discern how many calories they need for the activities they do, in hopes that they'll influence choices at home.
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