Adult obesity rate in SD could reach 60.4% by 2030
The number of obese adults, along with related disease rates and health care costs, is on course to increase dramatically in South Dakota over the next 20 years, according to "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2012," a report released Tuesday by Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Obesity is defined as having a body-mass index of 30 or more, a measure of weight for height.
If obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, by 2030, the obesity rate in South Dakota could reach 60.4 percent. According to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2011, 28.1 percent of adults in the state were obese.
Nationally, by 2030, 13 states could have adult obesity rates above 60 percent, 39 states could have rates above 50 percent, and all 50 states could have rates above 44 percent. Mississippi could have the highest obesity rate at 66.7 percent, and Colorado could have the lowest obesity rate for any state at 44.8 percent.
Over the next 20 years, obesity could contribute to 101,181 new cases of type 2 diabetes, 222,609 new cases of coronary heart disease and stroke, 200,392 new cases of hypertension, 130,568 new cases of arthritis, and 30,796 new cases of obesity-related cancer in South Dakota.
By 2030, obesity-related health care costs in South Dakota could climb by more than 3.6 percent, which could be the fourth lowest increase in the country.
If body mass indexes were lowered by 5 percent, South Dakota could theoretically save 7.6 percent in health care costs, which would equate to savings of $1.553 billion by 2030.
The number of South Dakota residents who could be spared from developing new cases of major obesity-related diseases includes:
21,780 people could be spared from type 2 diabetes,
17,899 from coronary heart disease and stroke,
16,721 from hypertension,
9,625 from arthritis, and
1,467 from obesity-related cancer.