By Gage Miskimen
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Half of America’s 50 states have an obesity rate exceeding 30 percent, and Iowa is one of them.

This month, the State of Obesity updated its data regarding obesity rates per state. According to the data, 30.9 percent of Iowans are considered overweight or obese. That ranks Iowa as the 16th most obese state in the United States.

Arkansas achieved the top spot at 35.9 percent, just a five percent increase compared with Iowa.

Albert Lang, the senior communications manager at the Trust For America’s Health, said Midwestern states tend to have higher rates of obesity than other regions because of the landscape and fewer opportunities to be physically active.

“People tend to be more active in the West Coast and mountainous regions,” Lang said. “Put some hiking trails around and make it easy to be active and outdoors, and you will see more people being active and physically fit.”

Doug Beardsley, the Johnson County public-health director, said the county has implemented some unique trails and that Iowa City is involved with the Blue Zones Project.

“Metropolitan planning is still working on trails. In Iowa City, they’re working on things called edible trails by planting berry bushes, nut bushes, and herb bushes beside trails,” Beardsley said. “We also have Blue Zones to promote policies at workplaces and restaurants.”

The concept of a “Blue Zone” refers to make a location more conducive to good health. Wellmark leads the Blue Zones project in Iowa.

Shannon Greene, community program manager for the Blue Zones Project in Iowa City, said the edible landscapes are scattered throughout the area.

“One thing we are trying to do is have better signage so people feel comfortable with taking these because that’s what they’re there for,” Greene said.

Some edible landscapes in Iowa City can be found at Wetherby Park, and the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center.

Greene said that it is important to build programs to promote healthy choices.

“It’s not about taking away people’s choices,” she said “It’s just about giving them new choices as well.”

Greene said the Blue Zone Project looks at a variety of things to achieve such a goal, including working with local restaurants to add healthy choices to their menus, encouraging people to incorporate movement throughout the day, and looking at whether streets are walkable.

Lang also said it’s important to make sure young children start their lives with healthy habits to decrease obesity rates in the future.

“Kids should have limited screen time. They should also be eating and drinking healthily,” he said. “Starting early and making sure daycare settings are incredibly healthy will help the obesity epidemic going forward.”

Lang said healthy lifestyles are an individual’s choice combined with a community’s effort.

“It all depends on how much people are willing to invest in a healthy lifestyle and make sure kids are entering kindergarten in a healthy state: then, we might even be able to see rates decrease,” he said.

Greene said communities and individuals share the responsibility of staying healthy.

“Obviously, every individual makes her or his own lifestyle choices; you need a share of individual responsibility and community responsibility,” she said. “It’s saying, ‘What can we do as a city to make that easier for you?’ I really hope we see these changes down the road, especially with kids.”

Greene said that the obesity issue is not a simple problem to solve.

“It’s a very complicated thing, with no one solution, but we are very optimistic,” she said.