Iowa ranks toward the middle of a new study of our expanding waistlines. The Trust for America’s Health survey has Iowa ranked 20th among the 50 states, for the percentage of obese residents. The study found nearly 25-percent of Iowans are obese.

Carol Voss, a nutrition coordinator with the Iowa Department of Public Health, says the state is using funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve Iowans’ nutrition and physical activity.

"Through that funding, we have two requirements," Voss says, " and one is to write a comprehensive state plan to address the issue. The other is to implement a pilot intervention." Both of those projects are underway. The pilot project is focused on 12 rural Iowa communities. According to Trust for America’s Health, Mississippi has the most adults considered to be obese (30%), while Colorado has the fewest (18%).