Legislators in Utah Create Resolution to Reduce Obesity

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Although, Utah has historically been one of the least obese states in the U.S., obesity levels have increased over the last few years. According to information from America’s Health Rankings, Hispanics have a 29.4% obesity rate in Utah, compared to only 23.1% of non-Hispanic Whites

Rep. Stewart Barlow (R-Fruit Heights) of Utah is working to raise awareness about obesity, by sponsoring a resolution to acknowledge that obesity is a growing problem in Utah. One of the main provisions of this resolution states that Utah will support policies that would increase access to healthy food and physical activity. The resolution recognizes the need to support policies that promote increased access to healthy food and physical activity in Utah.

According to a 2005 report, Latino (10.4%) high school students in Utah were more likely to be overweight or obese compared to white students (6.7%). Although, these results were not found to be statistically significant, the report notes that this may have been due to a smaller Latino population living in Utah. At a national level 16.4% of Latino students were overweight or obese compared to only 10.4% of white high school students.

According to this 2009 Utah Health Disparities Summary Hispanics living in Utah participate in less physical activity and eat fewer fruits and vegetables than all Utahns; 30.9% of Latinos reported getting no physical activity compared to only 18.3% of all Utahns and 85.8% of Latinos reported eating less than 3 vegetables a day compared to 77.3%, for the rest of the state.

Read the full story of this resolution fight obesity here.

View the 2013 Concurrent resolution to reduce obesity in Utah here.