Minnesota alone in Midwest staying below 30 percent
Minnesota’s adult obesity rate rose to 28.4 percent in 2017 but continued to outperform neighboring states with a slower rate of increase.
CDC released 2017 state- and territory-specific data on adult obesity prevalence using self-reported information from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) uses these data to inform the public about the prevalence of obesity in the state, track changes over time and support planning of public health interventions to reduce obesity.
People who are obese face an increased risk for a range of serious diseases and health conditions, including high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease and cancer. Preventing obesity requires changes in the food and physical environments, personal behavior and social norms. Research estimates that obesity cost the state $2.8 billion in 2009 dollars.
SHIP, which is active in all 87 counties and 10 tribal nations, spends $17.5 million per year from Minnesota’s Health Care Access Fund to support grant funding for local efforts to create healthier communities. From August 2016 to September 2017, SHIP communities worked with more than 4,000 partner sites across Minnesota.
SHIP works across Minnesota to implement locally led strategies that expand access to healthy food and physical activity in neighborhoods, schools, worksites and health care settings. It also supports state initiatives to improve and expand bike and pedestrian infrastructure and national efforts to promote walking and walkable communities.
Throughout the Meeker-McLeod-Sibley Community Health Services area, SHIP has supported healthy changes in local schools, worksites, food shelves, farmer’s markets, health care organizations and communities and has been a vital component for giving residents the opportunity to be healthy.
