The results are in for Healthy Lee’s 2017 look at wellness in Lee County, and while strides have been made in some areas, obesity remains a persistent problem.
Since the Healthy Lee initiative began in 2007, the percentage of Lee County's population considered obese fluctuated between 23 percent and 29 percent, but that number jumped in the last year to 31.2 percent of people tipping the scales in the obese range.
On the bright side, fewer people are using tobacco and infant mortality rates and low birth weight babies continue to decline.
Justin Klein, the manager of the Lee Health Wellness Center, joins Gulf Coast Live to talk about the challenges of promoting a healthy lifestyle, services available in Lee County to help with weight and related issues like Type II diabetes, and what it really means to be obese.
