Results of a 2007 survey from the Centers for Disease Control:

More than one-fourth of all Americans are obese, a number that has grown by almost 2 percentage points since 2005.

In only one state — Colorado — are fewer than 20 percent of the residents obese. The rate is above 30 percent in three states: Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

In Kansas, 27.7 percent of residents were obese in 2007, up from 25.9 percent in 2006 (and up from 15.9 percent in 1995).

Nationwide, the CDC said 15.3 percent of American adults were obese in 1995; in 2005, 23.9 percent were. Now, it’s 25.6 percent.

Jennifer Church of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Office of Health Promotion, said state efforts now are focusing less on education and more on changes to environments or policy. Public works and city planners must join health officials in the assessments, she said, so that issues such as safe bicycle and walking paths are considered.

In addition to 27.7 percent of Kansans being obese, an additional 36.1 percent are overweight, and near one quarter did not participate in any physical activities within the last month.

Read more from the Wichita Eagle: Obesity up in U.S. and Kansas