Yuma, state face heavy burden from obesity
From Staff And Ap Reports

If state and public health officials don’t address obesity in its Hispanic population, Yuma County and Arizona could become fatter and have more health problems than the rest of the country, researchers say.

About 55 percent of Hispanics in Arizona are overweight, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Health Foundation. That number is on par with the national average for the entire U.S. population and two percentage points shy of the national average for the Hispanic population.

Researchers say the U.S. lifestyle of cheap fast food and little physical activity is a dangerous combination for poor Mexican immigrants, whose genes work against them when it comes to weight, diabetes and heart disease.