Adult obesity rates are showing signs of leveling off, but progress against the epidemic could be slowed if prevention programs and policies are cut or weakened, a report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds.

The annual study, The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America, found that between 2015 and 2016, adult obesity rates rose in four states — including Colorado, with the lowest rate (22.3 percent), and West Virginia, with the highest (37.7 percent), as well as Minnesota and Washington — and fell in one state, Kansas, while they remained stable in the rest of the country. Although rates fell in only one state in 2016, compared with four in 2015, the number of states with rising rates has fallen over the last decade from thirty-one in 2006 to sixteen in 2010 to two in 2015, an indication of a trend that is stabilizing. The report also found that adult obesity rates in 2016 exceeded 25 percent in forty-six states, were above 30 percent in twenty-five states, and were above 35 percent in five states. In addition, the report found that childhood obesity rates are highest in Mississippi (21.7 percent) and lowest in Oregon (9.9 percent), with the national average dropping from 14 percent in 2004 to 10 percent in 2014.

To accelerate progress in reducing obesity nationwide, the report urges policy makers to invest in prevention at the federal, state, and local levels, including fully funding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Prevention and Public Health Fund; prioritizing early childhood policies and programs, including full implementation of current nutrition standards for school foods; and expanding healthcare coverage and care, including continued Medicare and Medicaid coverage of the full range of obesity prevention, treatment, and management services.

"Obesity rates are still far too high, but the progress we’ve seen in recent years is real and it’s encouraging," said RWJF president and CEO Richard E. Besser. "That progress could be easily undermined if leaders and policy makers at all levels don’t continue to prioritize efforts that help all Americans lead healthier lives."