Most Americans are getting fatter, and health experts see no halt of the trend amid a sluggish economy as people with lower incomes tend to turn to less-healthy food.

Obesity rates rose in 37 states in the United States and remained flat in the rest, according to a recent public health study. It concludes that Americans are eating too much and exercising too little.

In California, people became fat at a slower rate than those in other states, as the state's obesity rate rose to 23.1 percent of its adult population, up from 22.7 percent in last year.

"California is doing better than other states, but still has a long way to go," said Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group, which made the study jointly with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The study found that no states in the country showed a decline in obesity rate.

Meanwhile, the souring U.S. economy is a growing concern among health experts, who say Americans turn to cheaper, less-nutritious food in a economic downturn.

"With higher food prices and lower incomes, people tend to turn to calorie-dense, less-healthy food simply because they can't afford to do otherwise," said Levi.

The fact that Californians are getting fatter slower than people in other states could be attributed to actions taken by school districts and government agencies in recent years, public health workers and educational officials said.

Lawmakers of California's state legislature last month passed statewide restrictions on tran fats.

David Binkle, deputy director of food service of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said that menu improvements and other health practices have resulted in better student health.

"We are seeing a decline in the rate of obesity among the students," said Binkle, who attributed the decline to the current focus on eating healthy and fast-food restaurant's addition of healthy menu items.

Officials in Los Angeles earlier this month discussed a proposed ordinance requiring fast-food and chain restaurants to list calorie information on visible menu boards, after the city banned new fast-food restaurants for a year in South Los Angeles last month.

And those measures seem to have paid off. According to the report, rates of type 2 diabetes, a disease typically associated with obesity, increased in 26 states across the country last year, but did not grow in California.

Authors of the report said the main factors contributing to the obesity epidemic are too much food and too little exercise, and recommended a national strategy to implement programs promoting more physical activity and good nutrition.

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2008)