BY NADIA RAMLAGAN
KY NEWS CONNECTION

More than one in three children is now overweight or obese, according to new research published in the Lancet medical journal.

The study found while Kentucky and other southern states are forecast to continue seeing rising levels of childhood obesity, some other states, such as Utah, will experience even higher spikes.

Ben Chandler, CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, said the commonwealth is struggling to address health care and quality of life for kids.

“I think we’re 45th in being overweight,” Chandler said. “It leads to a shorter life expectancy. It leads to tremendous spikes in the odds of getting any number of diseases and it has a huge cost attributed to it. ”

Almost half of teens and young adults now are either overweight or obese, compared with 29% in 1990. The number is expected to jump by between 31% and 50% for adolescents and by 29% to 33% for kids ages 6-11.

Chandler said the state should increase funding for physical activity programs in schools and address the persistent lack of access to healthy and affordable fresh food. He added the issue cannot be tackled solely through individual behavior changes.

“There are a lot of environmental factors that are involved here,” Chandler said. “There’s a lot of money, quite frankly, being spent in advertising for things that are bad for you.”

The study also found that if the current pattern continues, more than 250 million U.S. adults will be overweight or obese by 2050.