Although obesity growth rates appear to have plateaued, an alarming number of consumers still face dire health consequences. In response, manufacturers are creating a range of a new weight management foods and beverages.
After three decades of increases, adult obesity rates in America remained level in every state except for one, Arkansas, in the past year, according to “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2013,” a report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Nevertheless, 13 states reported adult obesity rates above 30%; 41 states had rates of at least 25%, and every state was above 20%, according to the report. (For a historical comparison, no state was above 15% in 1980; no state was above 20% in 1991; in 2000, no state was above 25%; and, in 2007, only Mississippi was above 30%.)
If there is a bright spot, since 2005, there has been some evidence that the rate of increase has been slowing. That year, every state but one experienced an increase in obesity rates; in 2008, rates increased in 37 states. In 2010, rates increased in 28 states, and in 2011, rates increased in only 16 states.