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A new report by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is giving 28 states a bad grade: F — for fat.
We're analyzing coverage from WAVY-TV, ABC, CNN and Babble.
In 1991, no state had an obesity rate more than 20 percent. Now more than two-thirds of states have rates over 25 percent. Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health says America has unintentionally removed exercise from daily activities.
"We've taken physical activity out of our lives. We're a very car centric society; we haven't even built our communities to encourage walking and physical activity."
The study also shows more than 12 million children are currently considered obese. Dr. Joanna Dolgoff, who specializes in childhood obesity, tells ABC she created a way to encourage children to eat healthier foods.
ANCHOR: "Dolgoff has developed a kid-friendly program she calls Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right."
DOLGOFF: "I made it fun for the kids; green light foods are 'go', yellow light foods are 'slow', and red light foods are 'uh oh.' How do you get a 4-year-old to agree to stop at red? Sometimes you're going to get a temper tantrum. That's just the way it goes, but after a while, the kids learn sometimes they can have those unhealthy foods, and sometimes they can't."
The only place that decreased its obesity rates? — Washington, D.C. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains why.
"Doing things like simply adding more bike lanes, creating wider walking paths, adding more parks. They had this big renovation project where they added more parks. They opened rec centers. Free nutrition classes. It's amazing how high the health illiteracy rate is when it comes to nutrition specifically."
A writer for Babble thinks it's no surprise that America's culture of convenience has caused an increase in obesity, but says she is hopeful for its healthy future.
"Soon 8,000 calorie burgers will go the way of the soda fountain and end up a part of American nostalgia. ...It's time to turn over a new leaf — literally — and have some salad."
So, what do you think? Can America get on its way to becoming fat-free? Or will future health reports just bring more bad news?
WRITER: Linden Wilson
PRODUCER: Newsy Staff