Minnesota obesity rate holds steady, still nearly 1 in 3 adults in state obese
FILE - This Tuesday, April 3, 2018 photo shows a closeup of a beam scale in New York. A report released on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019 says nearly half of American adults will be obese within a decade and one-quarter will be severely so.[(AP Photo/Patrick Sison)]
The Minnesota adult obesity rate remained nearly the same from 2018 to 2019 in Minnesota.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, the adult obesity rate held steady in Minnesota at 30.1% from 2018 to 2019.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, that puts nearly one-third of Minnesotans at higher risk of suffering severe symptoms and death just relating to their obesity, according to MDH.
Minnesota continues to stay below the national obesity rate, which rose from 30.9% in 2018 to 31.4% in 2019, according to a CDC release.
Minnesota’s obesity rate also is lower than the neighboring states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Iowa, which all have obesity rates above 33%.
Obesity not only puts people at higher risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms, it also puts people at higher risk for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other serious illness. In 2017, the estimated cost of obesity-related health care in Minnesota stood at $3.2 billion.