Problem Statement & Question More than one-third of the United States adults have obesity. 26% of the residents in Connecticut have obesity. Since 2000, the rate of obesity has been increasing in Connecticut so what policy action should the state of Connecticut enact in order to address the incidence of obesity in residents of the state? Background According to Medline Plus, Obesity means having too much body fat. There’s a difference between obesity and being overweight. Weighting too much is what being overweight is. Both obesity and being overweight means that an individual’s weight is greater than what’s the considered healthy for the person’s weight, which is based on their height. It’s difficult to measure excess body day directly, it …show more content…
Each year, there are about 112,000 deaths from obesity that are preventable. In the past few decades, the number of cases of obesity has been on the rise in the United States. It has tripled among children and doubled among adults. In 1990, Connecticut’s obesity rate was at 10.4 percent. Then, in 2000, it was at 16.0 percent and currently it’s at 26.0 percent. The rate of obesity has just been increasing due to many …show more content…
In 2010, there were approximately 267,944 cases of diabetes in Connecticut and by 2030, there will be 412,641 projected cases of diabetes in the state. In 2010, there were approximately 214,986 cases of heart disease in Connecticut and by 2030, there will be 1,014,057 projected cases of heart disease in the state. In 2015, 30.4% of the state had hypertension. In 2010, there were 708,945 cases of hypertension on Connecticut and by 2030, there will be 941,046 project cases of hypertension in the state. Obesity mainly affects men in the state rather than women. African Americans have the highest percentage of obesity in Connecticut with 37.7%, white have 24.3 % and Hispanics have 30.3%. (The State of Obesity, 2017) Connecticut