This annual report card for states’ obesity rates shows the problem is worsening.

However, note the language: “How Obesity Policies” are failing. Elsewhere on this site, we have a review of David Kessler, M.D.s book, “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of America’s Insatiable Appetite.” The author is a former head of the Food and Drug Administration.Dr. Kessler, who says he has suits of many sizes in his own closet, studied this for seven years. He concludes that the food we are being sold manages to combine ingredients in a way we find tempting. However,  these ingredients, aken one by one, would not be equally tempting, he writes.

The report calls for a national strategy to combat obesity in adults and children.

You can check your own state’s rating on the foundation’s website, along with the full 2009 report.

Patients are responsible. Policies are responsible. Now, the question is, what can we do about this? This report offers its recommendations.

Robert Wood Johnson Trust for America’s Health

How Obesity Policies are Failing in America

“Adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009, a report released today by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). In addition, the percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states.”

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Report, July 2, 2009: “F as in Fat 2009: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America”