By Alan Lytle
Lexington, KY – Kentucky and other states are losing ground and gaining inches in the fight against obesity. A new report from the Trust for America's Health Foundation rates the Commonwealth as the sixth fattest in the country. According to the survey, 31.5% of Kentucky's population is now obese. 67.1% of all adult Kentuckians are either overweight or obese. The obesity rate in Kentucky children is 21%. Dr. Andrew Bernard, a trauma surgeon at UK Hospital, says the condition, if not addressed, can have dangerous, even deadly, implications.
"We know now that obesity causes more chronic health problems than smoking, more chronic health problems than heavy drinking, more chronic health problems than poverty. So, if we are not confronting obesity as a medical problem, and we are very uncomfortable talking about it, just because of the social awkwardness or stigma about it, I think we are doing our patients a disservice."
Dr. Bernard says it is high time the medical community meet the problem head on.
"We should be dealing with that sensitively because it can have such an emotional connotation to the patient. But at the same time, we are medical professionals and we do have to work through our own sense of awkwardness about talking about a very important medical problem."
Kentucky is also in the top ten for highest rates of physical inactivity, diabetes, and hypertension; which often go hand-in-hand with obesity.