Despite a slight increase, Oklahoma falls from sixth- to seventh-highest obesity rate in the U.S.
A survey from the Trust for America’s Health shows the rate rose from 32.2 percent last year to 32.5 percent this year. John Freidl with the state health department said that’s not much.
"I mean, that's virtually no change, and so we're encouraged by that," Freidl said. "I think we're taking good steps across Oklahoma. We've got a lot of partners, we've got a lot of programs, a lot of initiatives that are happening, that really the results from those take time to see."
Oklahoma's 32.5 percent obesity rate increases to 36.9 percent among 45- to 64-year-olds. Freidl said the information people need to be healthier is out there, but that doesn’t automatically make it easy.
"Somebody can understand that they need to go eat fruits and vegetables, but if they have no store close to them to get fruits and vegetables at an affordable price, it doesn't matter what they know or what they think or what I tell them," Freidl said.
West Virginia and Mississippi tied for first this year with 35-point-one percent of adults in those states classified as obese.
