Georgia has been ranked No. 18 in the nation for obesity in a report by Trust for America’s Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, according to The Atlanta Business Chronicle.
The report states Georgia is one of 20 states having obesity rates above 30 percent. Georgia’s rate is 30.3 percent, according to The Atlanta Business Chronicle.
“Forty-three states have rates at or above 25 percent and every state is above 20 percent, according to the report. Mississippi is ranked at No. 1 with an obesity rate of 35.1 percent. The state with the lowest obesity rate is Colorado at 21.3 percent,” The Atlanta Business Chronicle states.
Race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status and other factors affect national obesity rates state-by-state, according to The Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Leah Magdaraog, Georgia State nursing student, said increasing amounts of food deserts and distance from supermarkets could also contribute to the new ranking.
“One way to prevent this is to make supermarkets more available around communities,” she said.
Woo Park, a computer science major, said he believes sports and exercises have somewhat vanished because people want to play games online.
“[The] focus nowadays is about sitting and eating with group of friends rather than going out to play sports or exercise together,” Park said.
Georgia State student, Ly Pham, said there is more awareness about food deals than exercises around the campus.
“People do not have enough time on hand to prepare their own food so they choose what is more convenient and faster: fast food,” Pham said.
Pham also said the rankings can improve if people start promoting sports and exercises more.
