Report predicts half of Nevadans obese by 2030

Nearly half of all Nevadans could be obese in less than two decades. And that weight increase could lead to a rise in associated health care costs to the tune of $5.9 billion.

That was one of the findings in a report issued Tuesday in Washington, D.C., by a pair of organizations considered expert in the field.

The study, conducted by Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, warned that Nevada taxpayers could pay through the nose if residents fail to change their diets and exercise more each day.

It was a common refrain found throughout the study, which said the country's three most overweight states were Mississippi, Oklahoma and Delaware.

The thinnest state? Colorado.

Nevada has the seventh slimmest population in the country, with 24 percent of residents considered obese. That's a low percentage compared with other states.

But by 2030, the study warned, nearly 50 percent of Nevada residents are expected to reach obesity, said Albert Lang, communications manager for the nonprofit Trust for America's Health.

And where there is obesity there's usually Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, even obesity-related cancers, which translates to roughly $5.9 billion worth of additional trips to hospitals and doctors' offices, Lang said.

That's a lot to pay, he said, "especially when it all can be avoided."

Although the study shed new light on what is considered one of the nation's top epidemics, the issue is nothing new, nor are the admonitions.

There's a reason New York's mayor is passing a law banning beverages over 16 ounces in certain venues.

Pharmacies have aisles dedicated to diabetic care.

That's how bad things have gotten.

So cut down on the sugar-filled soda, and exercise a little more, Lang said.

"It's not that hard to lose 10 pounds. When you boil it all down, it's not that much, and you can do it fairly easily if you try," he said.

That's not entirely true, said Ivan Goldsmith, a Las Vegas doctor who specializes in weight loss.

Goldsmith said the solution is far more complex.

"In the world of obesity, people have issues with 'hunger suppression' and 'food avoidance,' and it has something to do with a chemical in the brain. At the end of the day, their neurotransmitters are going haywire. A lot of people out there are bingeing and eating in the middle of the night."

Goldsmith said part of the problem is the nature of Las Vegas, with its casinos and around-the-clock shifts.

If it's not swing shift, then it's graveyard, and when people get off work, they can hit the nearest 24-hour fast-food restaurant or convenience store, Goldsmith said.

"People are attracted to this stuff. They can't control themselves. You should see them outside the Sonic drive-through here where I work, near The Palms."

Goldsmith said the bottom line is that "without some form of drug therapy," losing weight is an uphill battle.

But researchers don't advocate doling out pharmaceuticals for weight loss. They're just the messenger, with bad news in hand, and they base their prediction on surveys done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1999 to 2010.

The dismal projections, according to the study, come from people who gave the CDC their height and weight in telephone interviews through the years.

For example, a man who is 5 feet 10 inches and weighs 210 pounds is considered obese. To remove himself from such a stigma, he would have to lose 5 percent of his body mass, or 12 pounds, and then he would be considered "overweight."

With that sort of concept in mind and those sorts of numbers, the two organizations, through a series of calculations, came up with the following predictions: Half the people in 39 states will be obese by 2030, and medical costs from treating obesity-related disease will probably increase by $48 billion to $68 billion per year.

The focus of so much of the debate about health care is over controlling costs, said Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health.

"We can only achieve it by addressing obesity. Otherwise, we're just tinkering around the margins."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Tom Ragan at tragan@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.