More than half of Utah adults (59.5%) and nearly one in four elementary school students (21.5 %)
are overweight or obese.
The number of those overweight or obese in Utah is greater than the entire population of Montana. You could simultaneously fill Rice Eccles Stadium, the E-Center, and Energy Solutions Arena almost 13 times with the number of overweight or obese Utah adults. See the Data page for more details.
Chances are, you know someone who is at an unhealthy weight. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines obesity as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or above. Overweight is defined as a BMI of greater than 25 and less than 29.9. Calculate BMI. If you are looking for personal weight loss, nutrition, and/or physical activity information, please visit the Check Your Health Web site.
Learn how your environment is contributing to the problem and what risk factors to watch for. See how costly it can be to treat obesity-related health problems.
All Utahns must unite to make the healthy choice the easy choice where we live, learn, work, and play. The Next Steps page outlines what Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. and the Utah Department of Health are doing to combat this epidemic in Utah. Visit the Successes page to see what is working.
Additional Information
- 2/26/2009 -A two-year study of 811 overweight adults that compared various diets (high protein, low protein, low fat, low carbohydrate) found no difference in the amount of weight loss among participants. In addition, satiety, hunger, satisfaction with the diet, and attendance at group sessions were similar for all diets. Attendance was strongly associated with weight loss. The diets improved lipid-related risk factors and fasting insulin levels. More>>>
- 12/2/2008 - Intermountain doctors will be more frank about childhood obesity. More>>>
- 11/20/2008 - Evaluation of the Gold Medal Schools Program.
More>>> - 10/29/2008 - "New" Childhood Overweight in Utah, 2008 is out now. More>>>
- 10/23/2008 - Poverty-Related Factors Associated with Obesity Prevention Policies in Utah Secondary Schools. More >>>
- 8/11/08 - Breastfeeding rates in Utah have achieved the Healthy People 2010 Objectives, according to the Centers for Disease Control. More >>>
- 8/6/08 - 93 percent of children's meal choices at 13 fast food chains exceeded 430 calories. More >>>
