A new long-range study has found that New Mexico is among the states with the sharpest increases in the number of people who are overweight or obese.
The historical research analysis, published this month in the journal, The Lancet, digs into weight trends over a period extending from 1990 to 2021 and includes forecasts to 2050.
The states with the highest levels of obesity are Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia.
But the study projects that Colorado and New Mexico could be the next states to approach the top of that list.
In fact, the largest relative increase in overweight and obese conditions over the course of the study was found in New Mexico.
The percentage of New Mexico males in those categories increased by 38% — higher than the national average of 25%. The percentage increase in overweight and obese females in the state was nearly 64%, compared to a national average of 43%.
Rita Condon, program manager of the obesity, nutrition, and physical activity program at the New Mexico Department of Health told KSFR that one factor is a lack of access to nutritious food.
“Think of our tribal areas—they're spread apart," Condon said.
"And those are traditional areas that are small, that are underserved. There's lots of places in our, in our state, even in our metro areas that are underserved in terms of full service grocery stores.
"What's available are convenience stores, fast food stores. So there's food that isn't very nutritious being offered to our residents and our children.”
Condon cited one such example, referring to the community of Anton Chico, in Guadelupe County…residents there may have to drive as far as an hour to reach a full-service grocery store.
Condon, whose focus is child obesity, says the state has initiated several programs in schools and communities. She mentioned such projects as school gardens, new farmers markets, and pedestrian infrastructure to encourage exercise.
She added that school districts are helping by implementing wellness and early childhood programs.
Condon says progress is being made but more help is needed from the people running the state.
“ Educate our legislators, our leadership, about the need for more investment to stitch all of this together, to weave it, I think, as a tapestry, of statewide and local collaboration. I'm hopeful. It just takes a long time.”
Because obesity in adolescence rarely resolves, according to the authors of The Lancet article, the cohort is more likely to develop health complications and diseases as they age, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, cancer, and infertility, among others.
The study projects that at current rates, more than half of all U.S. children and adolescents in 2050 will be overweight or obese. The authors write that such an uptick will also have a large impact on the economy and health system in general.
