RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A new report says adult obesity could reach nearly 50 percent in Virginia over the next 20 years, leading to an increase in disease rates and health care costs.
The report was released Tuesday by Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29.2 percent of adults in Virginia were obese in 2011. The report says that if rates continue on their current trajectories, the rate could reach 49.7 percent by 2030.
That increase could contribute to millions of new cases of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis and other obesity-related diseases over the next 20 years. And the report says the obesity-related health care costs in Virginia could climb by more than 23.8 percent during that time.
