Obesity in Iowa
Obesity presents a significant public health challenge in Iowa, as well as across the United States. Approximately one-third of adults in Iowa are classified as having obesity (36.4%), and another third have overweight (34.3%).
The Iowa Healthiest State Initiative is working with organizations from across the state to learn more about Iowa’s obesity crisis and to explore solutions and ways to support Iowan’s living with obesity.
View the most recent reports, events, and information on obesity in Iowa below.
2024 Obesity Roundtable
September 17th, 2024
State Historical Building | Des Moines, Iowa | 9 - 11 AM
The Iowa Healthiest State Initiative’s 2024 Obesity Roundtable will discuss the findings of the Iowa Employer Obesity Survey created in partnership with Central Iowa SHRM and Iowa State University, and explore actions for preventing and treating obesity in Iowa’s workplaces.
Modernizing Care for Obesity as a Chronic Disease:
An Employer How-To Guide
Sarah Wells Kocsis
Director Public Health, Milken Institute
Sarah Wells Kocsis is a director on the Public Health team at the Milken Institute (MI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan global think tank focused on accelerating measurable progress on the path to a meaningful live. She leads a portfolio of work focused on prevention, chronic disease, infrastructure, and other timely issues that are critical to advancing the role of public health in supporting healthy and productive communities.
Since joining the Milken Institute in May 2021, Wells Kocsis has directed research, curated convenings and published white papers on chronic kidney disease, obesity, employer-sponsored health care, the pharmaceutical supply chain, and public-private partnerships in public health.
Prior to coming to the Institute, Wells Kocsis held senior-level positions at Boston Scientific, Amgen, Hologic, and the Society for Women’s Health Research. In those leadership roles, she helped organizations at the nexus of science, innovation, business, and philanthropy drive public-policy solutions to optimize patient access to care.
Wells Kocsis holds a master’s in business administration from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s in science in biology from Tulane University.
Obesity Reports and Information
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In April of 2024, Iowa Healthiest State Initiative Executive Director, Jami Haberl, wrote an Op-Ed for the Greater Des Moines Partnership focused on understanding the impact and breadth of the obesity crisis in Iowa
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In October of 2023, the Iowa Healthiest State Initiative held the Obesity Roundtable presented by Lilly at the State Historical Building to discuss the economic impacts of obesity in Iowa.
Experts, healthcare professionals, and business leaders from across the state attended to explore opportunities to prevent obesity and to consider ways to support those living with obesity.
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