Despite some recent good news about childhood obesity in Kansas, the state still has problems with obesity overall.
Two- to four-year-olds who are enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program are eating healthier and losing some fat, according to a study by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Those toddlers showed a decrease in obesity from 13.7 percent in 2010 to 12.8 percent in 2014. That places Kansas at 40th, with the most obese children in the state of Virginia, which has an obesity rate of 20 percent.
A zoom out to the adult population shows the bad news. Kansas is the 7th most obese state at 34.2 percent.
The heaviest age group is adults 35 to 64. The heaviest race is black, and the heaviest gender is male, but not by much.
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Aileen LeBlanc is news director at KMUW. Follow her on Twitter @Aileen_LeBlanc.
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