Hearings kick off push to fight obesity

Obesity kills an estimated 280,000 people a year nationally. The Illinois Department of Public Health Friday held the first three hearings to discuss solutions to this growing problem.

Two-thirds of adults in Illinois are overweight or obese, and the state ranks fourth-worst in obesity with one in three children obese. The problem costs an estimated $3 billion a year to treat in Illinois alone. Kane and DuPage counties are among those with programs aimed at addressing the problem.

For more information, contact the state at (217) 557-0496, or see idph.state.il.us.