Community Corner

Bristol County Is Getting Fatter, Like the Rest of the Country

Nearly one-third of the county population tips the scales into obesity.

America’s epidemic of fatness extends all the way to Bristol County, though obesity rates are increasing a bit slower in the area than in the rest of the state and much of the country.

Still, Bristol and Warren have their share of obese residents. More than 30 percent of all area men and more than 27 percent of women were obese in 2011 (the most recent data). Those obesity rates are up 7.4 percent and 6 percent, respectively, just since 2001. Using the map above, you can see the rate was only 22.9 percent for men and 21.3 percent for women in the county in 2001.

Obesity in the state of Rhode Island increased at an even greater rate in those 10 years, with 9.4 percent more men and 8.1 percent more women tipping the scales into obesity in that period. Nationwide, the obesity rate increased 7.7 percent for men and 7.1 percent for women.

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While the numbers are alarming enough in Bristol County, other areas in the state are even worse. In nearby Providence County, 10 percent more men moved into the obesity category. Kent County had the worst increase in the state, as the female obesity rate increased by 11 percent.

Compared to other states, men and women in Rhode Island, collectively, are slightly slimmer than the national average. Obesity rates as of 2011 in the US were 33.8 percent of men and 36.1 percent of women. In total, more than one-third of the country is obese, the numbers show. In Rhode Island, the obesity rates are 32.9 percent for men and 33.6 percent for women.

Find out what's happening in Bristol-Warrenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The county figures on the map were obtained from a recent study from the University of Washington, which found that nationwide women are more obese than their male counterparts.

According to the CDC, obesity affects 35.7 percent of the population in the United States. Obesity is calculated by measuring a person’s height and weight, and deriving at a ratio called the body mass index, or BMI. This number often correlates to an individual’s amount of body fat, and is used to ascertain whether a person is considered underweight, a normal weight, overweight or obese.

Obese individuals have a 50-100 percent increased risk of premature death, and it’s estimated that obesity may be the cause of 300,000 deaths per year according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Interestingly, Americans claim to be exercising more during the same time period that obesity climbed. “Around the country, you can see huge increases in the percentage of people becoming physically active, which research tells us is certain to have health benefits,” said IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray in a press release. Murray added that “If communities in the US can replicate this success and tackle the ongoing obesity impact, it will see more substantial health gains.”

The good news is that there may be silver lining to America’s fat epidemic. While we’re still getting fatter, at least it’s happening at a slower rate than in past years. And if this rate continues to drop, Bristol and Warren might soon be reporting slimmer, healthier residents.



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