More than half of all adults in the state will be obese by 2030 if Mainers continue packing on the pounds at current rates, according to a national report released Tuesday.
The adult obesity rate in Maine is on course to reach 55.2 percent in 20 years, according to the annual “F as in Fat” report by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report predicts that every state in the nation will have an obesity rate topping 44 percent by 2030, with Mississippi tipping the scales at 66.7 percent and Colorado at the thinner end with 44.8 percent of all adults labeled obese.
Adults are considered obese if their body mass index, a body fat calculation based on individual weight and height, totals 30 or higher.
The report’s projections aren’t surprising given the prevalence of obesity in Maine and across the country, but serve as a call to action, said Tina Pettingill, executive director of the Maine Public Health Association.
“It’s devastating,” she said. “It will devastate our economy and the people of Maine. We have to do something about this.”
Today, Maine is tied with North Dakota at 25th in the nation with an adult obesity rate of 27.8 percent, according to 2011 data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1995, 14.3 percent of Mainers were obese.
Over the next 20 years, obesity is on track to contribute to 192,680 new cases of Type 2 diabetes, 462,648 new cases of coronary heart disease and stroke, 405,204 new cases of hypertension, 248,703 new cases of arthritis, and 65,041 new cases of obesity-related cancer in Maine, the report found.
The analysis was commissioned by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and conducted by the National Heart Forum. Its projections are based on a peer-reviewed model published last year in the medical journal The Lancet and an annual phone survey conducted by the U.S. CDC and state health departments.
As Mainers gain more weight over the next 20 years, state health care costs related to obesity are expected to climb more than 19 percent, according to the report. That would mark the 12th-highest increase among all states.
Nationally, medical costs from treating preventable diseases related to obesity are projected to rise by $48 billion to $66 billion per year by 2030, according to the report.
The report wasn’t all bad news. If Maine can reduce the average body mass index of its residents by 5 percent by 2030, the state could save $2.8 billion in health care costs over the next 20 years, the analysis found. That would also spare more than 130,000 Mainers from developing obesity-related diseases.
For a 6-foot-tall person weighing 200 pounds, a 5 percent drop in body mass index would roughly amount to losing 10 pounds.
Maine has made progress in reducing rates of heart disease and stroke, but those numbers could rebound if the state doesn’t get a handle on obesity, said Brenda Vitali, communications director for the American Heart Association in Maine.
“We still have a long way to go,” she said.
Vitali and Pettingill both pointed to recent state budget cuts that diverted $2.7 million from the Fund for a Healthy Maine as a step back in the fight against obesity. The fund allocates money from the landmark 1998 tobacco settlement for smoking and substance abuse prevention programs and a variety of health initiatives, including obesity prevention.
The cuts led to the elimination of school health coordinators in districts across the state and affected funding at the state’s 27 Healthy Maine Partnerships.
Pettingill cited a 2008 report that found the state could save $7.50 in health costs within five years for every dollar Maine invests in health prevention, the highest return on investment of any state in the country.
%!http://goo.gl/HMcqA
This is a sad state of affairs, and many of us are in denial.
#1 Cause of Health insurance rate increases? Cost of Health Care.
As you can infer from the article, the bigger we get, the more we’re going to use the health care system, which of course will drive the cost of health care through the roof no matter whether we have private insurance, a public option, we’re all in Medicare, it matters not. “We have seen the enemy, and he is us!”
So let’s have some fun, and a reality check. Here’s a BMI calculator from the US Department of Health and Human Services; http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
How about anyone that comments on this article first calculates their BMI and publicly post it at the end of their comment, to help everyone be honest rather than just spouting off at ‘those other people’?
My BMI is 26.5, which puts me slightly (12 lbs.) overweight. Let’s see whose comments match their reality…
Can we use the big boned alibi? My doctor gave a 20 lb discount ,because I can’t wrap my fingers all the way around my wrist.
I can overlap my thumb and my middle finger…..
Yup and I can touch my elbows with my hands!
19.4 – But I have no desire to bash anyone.
I will say one thing – I don’t want any of the stuff happening in NY happening in Maine.
I don’t think it is right for anyone to tell me I can’t buy a super sized soda because of someone else’s eating habits.
985.3 super size me please….
Can’t super size anymore. Wait that’s New York News at 11.
I will say I like the idea of taking your bike more, but unfortunately that is not always feasible for many people in our state due to distances between places, weather, and lifestyle. For example – I have a 6 year old and a 16 month old, not to mention living about 5 miles outside of town… there is no way I can bike to go to church on a Sunday AM, let alone grocery shopping or the “quick trip to Wal-Mart”- which are what most of my car “adventures” consist of since I work from home.
23.2 – but that is down considerably… at the beginning of the year I had a BMI of 27.1 and decided it was about time to do something about it! My goal – be thinner than my “skinny jeans” so I had an incentive to go out and buy new clothes for summer.
I hate the “height/weight” equation for calculating BMI. Look at an NFL lineman. They are big boys at 6’5″ and 325 lbs. That leaves a BMI of 38.5. You think those guys are obese? Go tell them that to their face. And don’t say “I’ll out run them.” They run just as fast as some running backs. I’m not trying to start an argument with you yakdude, I just thought the response I wanted to post was fitting for yours since you included the link. When I was a senior in high school and lifting weights and running 3-4 times a week, according to this calculator, my BMI then was a 41.9. I don’t think that if I was “morbidly obese” that I would have been a 2 year starter on a Class B line. P.S. my BMI now is a 42.5 but I’m working on it. :-)
got most of the way to the bottom of the comments, before anyone ‘fessed up’, thanks. If you go to the link, it does give ‘allowances’ for extra muscle mass for athletes.
Time was people who where 100 pounds over weight wouldn’t live very long. Now we have all those expensive blood pressure meds and cholesterol drugs and were seeing morbidly obese living into their 80s.
Is it wrong for over weight people to live to be 80?? Only skinny bonny people gets to live to be 80?? I would never say that people that call them selves lord shouldn’t live to be 80….
I never said it was wrong. I was just pointing out that some of the increase in obese people is a result of modern medicine.
it is very expensive and unsustainable.
It’s sooo sad to have this happen to our culture.
That being said…I believe buried deep in the law, that obamacare covers this and it states that a mandatory morning and afternoon workouts will be enforced with proper diet. Ahh! Problem solved move on. I could’ve misread….it is the size of a Maine black bear record (about 699 lbs.) if you haven’t seen it.
All the more reason to promote walking neighborhoods, bicycling, and other ways to get people out of their cars. And tax the heck out of the fast-food restaurants that are causing the problem in the first place.
I agree. Bicycling is a great way to get people out of their cars, especially if you are in the city. I have seen people get in their cars to just go across the street. That, in my opinion, is pure laziness.
FWIW – there are times I drive across the street to my parents’ house – prime example, Memorial Day I hosted a cook-out over there and had about $75 worth of groceries not to mention my 12 month old and all of his “accessories” to get across the road. But, as a general rule, I do walk across multiple times a week (sometimes multiple times a day…). So, calling all people lazy who “drive across the road” can be a little judgmental if you don’t know the situation…
Maybe in that case, it would be OK. I have seen a single person get in their car with nothing else and go across the road in their car. That is what I was referring to.
I haven’t seen this one or twice either. Unfortunately, in this area, it is rather common.
Just curious – what is “across the road” that is so important they need to drive? :)
In one case, it was a convenience store where they picked up some soda and some snacks. They didn’t put any gas in their vehicle either.
In fact, it was at one building where I used to live and we had a convenience store right across the road.
– please delete –
That’s the problem,, people make judgements with out knowing the circumstances.
There is always an exception to every rule,, people and their problems are all different..
make multiple trips. It isn’t that hard.
I agree that people use the cars too much but how many people can afford a bicycle??
driving isn’t free. Gas and wear and tear add up over time. Check craigs list for a used and affordable bicycle.
I hope you aren’t serious. If you can afford $4 a gallon gas, you can afford a bicycle.
I’m unemployed and I was able to buy a bicycle.
Why are people turning this into driving across the street? There are greater implications here with eating better and getting exercise.
Yeah, and exactly how much exercise do you get in your car. That’s the point. If people are driving across the street, they could just walk across the street instead.
Lame….Yeah the last time i drove by Micky-D’s they dragged me in there at gun point….what’s-up with that? Tax ’em and problem solved.
Put the extra fast food taxes towards the extra healthcare we will be paying for because people will be so fat they can’t work and pay income taxes. That is of course if the extra tax doesn’t steer people away from them (fast food joints) which would be the better choice.
Please don’t say that fat people can’t work because there was a shop near my house that every one that worked it was over weighted and they worked every day.
I’m not saying they can’t but it’s an excuse that I’ve heard people use.
I find it somewhat amusing that McDs gets singled out as the “bad food” when every other greasy-spoon joint is equally bad, or worse. Yet, somehow, these other restaurants don’t post their calories or nutritional information. A *small* hamburger, fries, and drink from McDs is better for you than most lunch options.
Taxing them will not stop it, they will just charge more and people will still go there!! People are the only ones to stop it, I love McDonald’s hamburger but only go there once a month.
I was being sarcastic Pavint46, sorry I didn’t show that in the original message.
Yes I agree with you 100%. I was a Personal Trainer for years and i believe people just need to watch their calorie intake to calorie’s burnt. Smaller portioned food more often throughout the day, whole wheats,fresh veggies, fruit ect. and of course get off the couch/computer and moving around a bit helps.
Don’t forget the cheapest foods at the grocery store are the ones with high fat along with tons of preservatives. Yuck! Glad McDonalds started posting calories for their food this week.
i don’t know where people get this idea. A sack of rice or oats or beans is dirt cheap and feeds you for a long time. The problem is education.
Part of the problem is education. How many days a week do you eat oats and beans ?
You are right abut the education part. There’s another cultural part as well; people brought up by and living closely among people who rely on poor food are likely to keep doing so. Add to that the sheer power of modern advertising, and all too many don’t stand a chance. They don’t choose to be unhealthy in the sense that they get up in the morning and choose to take the junk over the good stuff. The programming – and their economic situation – has already taken its toll. Its easy to be judgmental in this but, after all, people who’ve been taught to eat right are no less programmed in a way – it just happens to be a better way. Community gardens, accessible farmers markets and tv advertising to counter the junk food empires need much more emphasis to help turn that culture around, but it won’t be easy – it might not even be possible.
Would you believe me if I told you that at least 3 dinners per week for the last 5 years have been nearly the same thing: a bean, rice, oat, barley, veggie, meat concoction that is something like chili or jambalaya. As a single guy it is difficult to find healthy food, that i can cook quickly, in portions that won’t spoil. I found something that works, so why change?
Can’t buy a sack of oats at the Big Apple. Much of Maine is in a ‘food desert’ defined by the lack of a neighborhood grocery store. The circle of poverty begins this way. Too broke to buy gas to get to the store that’s 3 towns over, so you go to the convenience store and pay exorbitant prices for ‘food’ with little nutritional benefit.
junk food is much cheaper per calorie (unit of energy), per serving healthy foods can be cheaper (beans, rice).
This is true thanks to fat’s 9 kilocalories per gram (versus carbs and protein at 4 kcal/g). However fullness and satiation are based more on volume and meeting nutritional requirements. So to feed a family to satisfaction, the calories are not necessary.
Right, but that is not what obese people buy. They go by taste. We all like what tastes better.
yea its the fast food places that are causing the problem, it has nothing at all to do with the people who choose to eat there…
You can’t blame the restaurants because they are not making you eat the food. You have to blame your self!!
The healthcare/pharmaceutical industry must love this!
If we used our bicycles more and our cars less, that would help the problem. One burns fat and saves you money. The other makes you fat and burns money, especially with gas over $4 a gallon.
I agree that physical activity would help, but I think the real problem is diet.
Today we are eating so many highly-processed, high-glycemic foods that our bodies immediately store as fat. A healthy diet of whole, minimally-processed foods does wonders.
That was exactly the point. Our diets are a real problem, but if more people bicycled or walked they would burn that extra fat.
Disagree. The majority of the problem is natural metabolism, which you can’t change easily. Some people, can’t loose weight, despite lots of exercise. Food consumption is a small variable among the larger – although it is an issue for some.
most people do not get enough exercise and eat way more calories than they need. The people you speak of are in the minority. There are a few people where obesity is a result of some metabolic condition, the vast majority it is caused by lifestyle — inactivity and poor eating habits.
Not true. The CDC recommends 2.5 hours MINIMUM of moderate physical activity and 2 OR MORE days of resistance/weight training per week for adults along with a healthy diet. Are the majority of people in our state doing this? Are you doing this? Are your friends and family doing this? And actually the majority of weight loss is what is put (or not put) in our mouths.
The CDC is wrong… in part.
This is one of many discussions on the subject:
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/pima/obesity/obesity.htm
Show me a Pima indian in Maine. There are only around 20,000 living in two Western US states. Their traditional diet is 70-80% carbs. You stated that the MAJORITY of obesity was metabolic. The majority of obesity is too little exercise and too much hand to mouth. These individuals are a miniscule fraction of the population.
Fast life, fast food, expensive healthy foods, not exercising and not taking time to set down to a healthy family meal..
the problem is a combination of diet and sedentary lifestyle. Both factors need to be changed.
Soda and chips. The two top contributers to our obesity problem.
In other news – It’s National Cheeseburger Day! Seriously, look it up… Who is going to celebrate with a nice juicy cheeseburger off the grill for supper tonight with some homemade potato salad?? :) ME!
While I agree that we are defintiely getting fatter, using the BMI to predict this is rediculous. Just recently there was an article about how flawed the BMI measure is. It is a poor measure of health. My best friend jogs 4-5 miles a day, works out lifting weights several times a week and he is considered morbidly obese. Why, because he is fairly short and has put quite a bit of muscle onto his frame. I myself cannot utilize BMI, I have two significant spinal curvatures. I have no idea what my height should be without these curves. How do I measure my BMI, according my doctor, by my actual height, not taking into account my curvature. I go to the gym three times a week to do a spinning class, and I am considered obese. in order to get to a BMI not considered obese/overweight I would have to get down to 175 pounds at 6feet tall.
Thank-you! People just don’t look at the individual person’s reason for the “weight”..
1/2 of Mainers will be Obese by 2030? Haaa! That must be a typo. Must mean by 2:30 pm today.
Absolutely! A lot of us are ready now!
What else would you expect in a State that names the whoopie pie as the official state treat?
We cannot simultaneously have a campaign against obesity and one that promotes “big is beautiful”. Start demonizing fat people. They are wasting your money just like a litterer, a vandal, a tax evader or an AWOL soldier.
God bless you Erix the red,, your opinions are whats wrong with the world today!! And we should start demonizing you!!
he is right. obesity should be shameful.
reduce financial incentive to purchase healthier foods, eliminate smoking cessation support, close public athletic programs due to lack of funding, and voila! the obese pack the ERs and collapse the health care system. therefore, everyone except the healthiest dies off and its a brave new world we built. the airlines will love it – put the skinny seats back in and more passengers per flight.
“It will devastate our economy and the people of Maine. We have to do something about this.” Really Tina you are worried about what is going to happen in 20 years! Like we even have to worry about that if it wasn’t so sad it would be funny.
don’t be so shortsighted. Obesity related disease is a huge drain on our economy (unless you work for big pharma)
‘More than half of Maine adults will be fatsos by 2030, report projects, stop eating so much’
thats the title of this story i would have used
I disagree with this study.
december 21st 2012 will make it so that there isn’t many people left, and food will be so hard to get that it’ll be more like the hunger games.
lol?
Stop eating bread, muffins, pasta, rice, and all sweets.
Stop drinking beverages with calories.
Do this and you will not gain weight.
damn ….. Maine better ban Big Gulps quick!
More than half of Maine residents will be DEAD by 2030
we do have the oldest population in the country.
you’re onto something there.
The county by 2015.
There…one thing already off my bucket list ;)
OMG, the writing’s on the wall here … start now guys-n-gals, eat healthy, exercise daily, moderate alcohol intake, quit smoking, eat smaller portions, walk when you can instead of drive, cut out the sugary and fatty foods, grow your own veg, eat more fruit, grill don’t fry, drive on past McD’s and stop for healthy grub at Verve in Orono, or call in Woodman’s Bar-n-Grill in the early evening … that’s the end of Don-da-Medic’s Medical Rant … :-)
Was the plug for Abe Furth’s businesses paid for in cash or gift certificates?
No cash or gift certificates changed hands, none ever asked for and none ever given cos Abe’s not that kinda guy.
What I wrote was based on my wonderful happy experiences of dining in both establishments and experiencing the gawjus healthful foods on offer in both businesses.
I speak and write as I find. No other motive hidden behind my words.
And I walk to both establishments, not drive, so I get my cardio-vascular exercise too.
That’s because they ride motorcycles, lawn mowers, ATVs and snowmobiles and sit around watching outdoor shows. They belong to some health clubs, but must park nearest the door.
Not to worry…by 2030 there will only be old farts , a few welfare queens and the foriegn workers changing their depends and wiping the drool from the chins of the elderly…Think I’m kidding then you haven’t been paying attention to what’s happening..
Who cares…you will have your free healthcare..so eat away.
If the current administration remains in office in D.C., we the People, will be too broke to eat the junk food to put the lard on. We will be gathering twigs to use in our stoves to heat our homes. We will then be working the abs when we pick up sticks and will surely burn those calories.
Are we sure we aren’t already there? It’s not surprising given the costs of healthy foods these days. Not all people can afford to eat healthy anymore. Then of course society seems to be glued to technology to the point where people are getting less and less exercise. The science behind it is still so simple and so true (all the fad diets and foolishness aside)….Burn more calories than you consume and you will lose weight.
HOW can ANYONE predict something like this? I see more people walking, If the State is indeed “aging” don’t older people get thin as they slow down on their eating, AND we are discussing a possibility 30 years down the road. Suppose a disaster hits and we run out of food? That scenario seems more likely to me than a increase in fat folks.
With (corporate puppet-monkey) legislators who outright CHAMPION such disease-contributing products like the (sugar bomb) Maine State Desert: Whoopee Pies, and the (sugar bomb) Maine State Soda: Moxie, and the (sugar bomb) Maine State Favorite Alcoholic Beverage: Allen’s Coffee Brandy … it seems that our lovely (per capita) pill-popping-abuse-champion of American states is well on its way toward the the goals of such industry standards.
They (medical industry) don’t make money from Health, so-called, “Care” … they get RICH from “dis-ease” and the prolonged suffering of humanity, which is almost entirely preventable, BY choice. Go Figure. Yes, I’d surely like to know whose money is lining THOSE legislators’ pockets … Yes, I would like to know all about it.
P.S. Any politician – even down to the “select” man /person level – who will not participate in the education around and pursuit of Monetary Reform – is not worth the paper their election ballot is printed on … because THIS is an issue that underlies nearly everything else in our world
… and it seems that hardly anyone is paying sufficient attention to this …
Fast food, take out and delivery food, fried food, buffets, snacks, sodas, no sense of portion sizes, etc. These things are a part of our culture. Maybe we need a cultural shift to change bad eating habits. Too many people don’t even eat as a family any more. Then we think we can fix the whole problem by urging people to be more active.
disgusting. Maine has so much to offer for people looking to get off their butts and have some fun physical activity. Too bad so many people are content to sit and watch TV while they eat junk food and develop Type 2 Diabetes.
I have a fool proof method for Mainers to lose weight. Exercise more, eat less. No gimmicks, no hyperbole, and it works, every single time.
That’s to haaaaard!! I want a magic pill!
HFCs and sugar are the problem, soda, chips, snacks etc..
On the the news tonight they are saying the obesity increase is related to BPA. Ya know, I would rather deal with a rusted can inside when I open it than BPA beacause we are already seeing ill affects from BPA. When I open a can and it has rust, I can choose to eat it or not and the most that will happen is I am sick for a day or two.
The Lepage family is leading the way!