35.2% of North Dakota adults are obese, above the national average and up nearly 15% from 2000

GRAND FORKS – Mirroring a national trend, obesity rates are up nearly 15% over the past two decades in North Dakota, a rate slightly higher than the national average.

In 2021 – the most recent year of data – North Dakota’s obesity rate stood at 35.2%, slightly above the national average of 33.9%, according to the United Health Foundation (UNH), making North Dakota the 32nd-heaviest state in the nation. Neighboring Minnesota and South Dakota rank 20th and 42nd, respectively, with obesity rates of 23.4% and 38.4%.

The UNH defines obesity as having a body mass index — a metric accounting for an individual’s height and weight — above 30. Nationwide, that number has risen 6.4% since 2010, 13.9% since 2000 and 22.6% since 1990, the last year of data available.

North Dakota has seen similar trends. The state’s obesity rate has increased by 7.3% since 2010, 14.8% since 2000 and 23.1% since 1990.

Dr. Eric Johnson, a family medicine physician specializing in diabetes and obesity treatment for Altru Health System, said obesity is driven by a wide range of factors.

”Obesity appears to be a fairly complicated disease, and we know a lot more about it than we did 25 or 30 years ago,” Johnson said. “Some people seem to be genetically predisposed, and add that together with other risk factors — like sedentary lifestyle or poor eating habits — and those are some of the biggest drivers in the United States over the last couple of decades.”

One area of particular concern for North Dakota is its obesity rate among adults aged 65 and older, which at a rate of 35.6% ranks it 47th in the nation. Johnson said this trend is something he has noticed within his practice.

“I’ve been here 30 years, and it’s very evident that obesity has increased among all age groups, but that does seem to be an age group where we’ve seen particularly steep increases,” he said.

North Dakota’s best performing metric was childhood obesity – which measures the percentage of obese children aged 10-17 – where it tied New Jersey for 11th place with a rate of 29%, below the national average of 33.5%. However, Johnson said it is extremely important to address childhood obesity due to the litany of health problems it poses.

“Obesity is a very deadly set of diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes,” he said. “Many people don’t know that obesity is strongly tied to certain cancers. With children, if they have a lifetime of obesity, their chances of having one or more of these conditions is pretty substantial.”

As obesity rates have gone up, health care costs associated with treating obesity and related illnesses have also risen, Johnson said.

“This is an expensive disease,” he said. “We spend nearly $200 billion annually in the United States to care for individuals with obesity and obesity related illnesses. Individually, it’s about $2,000 more per year in health care costs for persons with obesity compared to an individual the same age who is not obese.”

There are steps individuals can take to address obesity in their own lives, Johnson said. To start, eating a healthy diet is paramount.

“Our society eats a lot of processed and fatty foods,” he said. “We need to do more with what we’re doing in our lifestyle. Within our health care system at Altru, we have a full complement of dietitians and nutritionists who can help patients with their eating habits and lifestyle patterns. I think some people think a dietitian is going to tell them ‘you can’t eat this or that,’ but it’s really much more sophisticated than that.”

Johnson pointed to myriad fitness centers and outdoor recreation areas — such as the Greenway — that Grand Forks offers. He believes the offerings give the community an advantage over the rest of the state.

He also emphasized the importance of year-round physical activity.

“I think it’s very important for kids and adults with obesity to be active,” he said. “That can be 30 minutes three times per week, or maybe even a little less to get started. I have a lot of patients who may be very active when the weather is good, but when we get into peak winter weather that seems to fall off. You need to have a winter plan.”

Johnson said he advises his patients to tailor their exercise toward activities they are comfortable doing.

“I have my patients seriously think about a piece of exercise equipment they will actually use,” he said. “If you have arthritis in your knees, then walking is probably not a good recommendation, but riding a recumbent bike or joining a fitness center might be. This can be a good family outing, and something you can do year-round.”

Banish covers news pertaining to K-12 and higher education, as well as county commission coverage.