Goals to reduce the obesity rate to 15 percent by 2010 are unlikely to come to fruition as new reports show obesity has skyrocketed in the United States.

A new report titled "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America 2009" by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows 23 states have experienced increasing obesity in the last year while no states have registered a decline.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), no states had an obesity rate over 20 percent in 1991. Now, Colorado, at 18.9 percent, is the only state with an obesity rate under 20 percent.

Obesity rates have gone from an average of 15 percent in 1980 to 34.3 percent with an additional 32.7 percent considered overweight.

Alarmingly, child obesity rates have also had a sharp climb. Estimates suggest more than 30 percent of children are either overweight or obese.

Health care will be the greatest economic challenge in the coming decades as the current system strains to provide for the aging population while diseases start to occur earlier in life for younger generations.

Obesity is at the core of these issues because it is the gateway that leads to so many chronic ailments such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

These concerns will grow around the world as developing nations prosper and begin adopting lifestyles and diets similar to the "American way." Already, the growth of energy-dense, highly-refined foods around the world have led to increasing rates of diabetes in China and India.

While parts of the world struggle to find sustenance and basic nourishment, developed, industrial nations consume large quantities of nutrient-deficient foods. Nutrition policies must focus on increasing the accessibility and affordability of fresh produce, pasture-grazed meat, learner protein sources, and whole grains.

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