The Checkup: PA Obesity Nearly 60 Percent by 2030

• Um, guys? This doesn’t look good. The brainiacs over at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America’s Health crunched some numbers and found that if we stay the current course, over 60 percent of adults in 13 states will be obese by 2030. Ugh,there’s more: “If states’ obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension, and arthritis could increase 10 times between 2010 and 2020—and double again by 2030.” Left unchecked, the upward-moving obesity trend will also increase healthcare costs by up to $66 billion per year, and could take a serious toll on economic productivity, too. Here in PA, we’re squarely in the 55 to 59 percent obesity range, based on the 2030 projections. The good news: If we reduce our state’s average BMI by 5 percent, we could save over $24 billion, and avoid over 300,000 cases of diabetes and coronary heart disease, more than 280,000 cases of hypertension and nearly 30,000 cases of obesity-related cancer. Check out all the research here.

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