At least one Delaware health expert is responding to a report released last week that shows adulthood obesity in the First State is on the rise.
Allison Karpyn, associate director of the Center for Research and Education and Social Policy at the University of Delaware, says bringing obesity rates down in Delaware requires a combined effort.
"It’s not just incumbent on the policymaker or only incumbent on the individual that is struggling to lose weight, it’s really a broader-based effort to turn this epidemic around," said Karpyn.
Karpyn adds that means a broad based approach that includes looking at the access different communities have to food.
"When we talk about changes in communities, we’re thinking about where are supermarkets? Where are neighborhood corner stores located? And what kind of products are they selling?" said Karpyn.
The nationwide obesity survey, released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found that adulthood obesity in Delaware rose 4 percent in 2013. More than 31 percent of adults in the First State are now considered obese making the state the 13th most obese in the nation.
Alaska, Idaho, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming were the only other states saw statistically significant increases in their obesity rates in 2013.