In a new report, Maine ranks 24th in the nation and the highest in New England for obesity with a rate of 30 percent.

For years, the Trust for America’s Health report, in collaboration with and underwritten by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has published the annual report, The State of Obesity, to raise awareness and encourage creation of a prevention strategy.

Maine’s rate has risen steadily, with the exception of a 0.07 percent decrease in 2014. Childhood obesity in 2015 in Maine was 13.3 percent, making Maine the 19th highest childhood obesity state in the nation. In 2011 it was 12.5 percent with a ranking of 42.

Obesity-related health issues in Maine include diabetes, hypertension, arthritis and obesity-related cancer.

Carl Costanzi is program coordinator for 5210 Let’s Go! Oxford County for Western Maine Health through Healthy Oxford Hills. According to Costanzi, the obesity rate in Oxford County is 28 percent and the overweight rate at 39 percent. These are the rates for adults from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 2013. The adult obesity rate for the state of Maine in that report is 29 percent.

The new State of Obesity Report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation data for adults is from 2015. In this report Maine has a 30 percent obesity rate, not much different from the 2013 report.

For high school students the rate is 17 percent obese and 18 percent overweight, according to the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey 2015. The obesity rate for high school students across the state is 13 percent.

The obesity rate for adults in Oxford County is pretty similar to that of the state, Costanzi said. The obesity rate in high school students is a little higher than the state rate.

“That being said, obesity continues to be a concern here in Oxford County, across the state, nationally and globally,” he said. “Along with behavioral health it continues to be a priority for Stephens Memorial Hospital’s efforts.”

Costanzi said, “We are working against an industrial food system pouring a lot of money into manufacturing ultra-processed, energy-dense, nutrient-poor food-like substances and spending millions to market those products.

“We also have a federal food policy that subsidizes that system and not the whole foods and fruits and and vegetables that they [USDA] say we should be eating. We are also living in a world becoming more and more centered around cars and screens leading to increased motorized transportation and sedentary behaviors,” he said.

While the USDA’s former food pyramid and new plate graphic urge the consumption of fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy and protein, it doesn’t differentiate between fresh and processed and its list of acceptable food for school lunches belies the healthy factor in much of what it approves for lunch programs.

The Oxford County Wellness Collaborative, of which the hospital is one of the founding members, has two workgroups tackling these issues, Costanzi said. They are the Active Living workgroup, which developed the Oxford County Moves campaign, and the Healthy Food workgroup, which aims to build and promote an equitable, resilient and healthy food system.