Indianapolis is one of the most unhealthy "booming" cities in the United States. While the mission of KC & Co. is to help Hoosiers live their healthiest, happiest lives, the overall purpose is to support the health of our community as a whole to ensure our city can grow and flourish for many years to come.

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Luckily, Indianapolis has a variety of research institutions and non-profits collecting and analyzing data so we can make informed improvement decisions. While these are staggering statistics, we must recognize this so we can address them and work towards a better future.

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I couldn't agree with Thomas Duszynski, PhD (assistant professor at the Fairbanks School and an affiliated research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute) more than when he said, “We can’t begin to work on prevention and treatment until we understand the prevalence of an issue."

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Now that over a decade of research has been done, we know the prevalence of the issue of poor nutrition, obesity and low productivity, so it's time to get to work to decrease the statistics and support Hoosier health.

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"Childhood obesity has continued to rise in central Indiana, and the latest data make clear that this trend is more than a health issue—it is a challenge that touches nearly every aspect of a child’s well-being. According to the 2024 Weight Trends Among Children and Adolescents within Central Indiana: 2023 Data Addendum report, more than 1 in 5 children between the ages 2 to 19 (22%) were living with obesity in 2023, representing an increase of 6.4 percentage points since 2014. The rate increase (5.3 percentage points) during the COVID-19 pandemic years (2020-2022) accounted for a large portion of the overall rise.1 Nearly 40% of children in the Central Indiana Region were overweight or living with obesity in  2023—an increase of 3.8 percentage points since pre-pandemic years." Read more here.

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"A study found that nearly 70,000 Hoosiers are not in the workforce due to obesity, including 58,000 additional unemployed adults and 11,400 fewer adults due to “premature deaths.” Of those 58,000 adults who attribute their unemployment to obesity, an additional 9,700 use state and local assistance programs which cost the state $27.7 million, the report said." Read more here.

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"Indiana ranks low on many factors that contribute to chronic diseases. 42.7% of adult Hoosiers eat fruits less than one time per day, and 20.9% eat vegetables less than one time per day (2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, BRFSS). Moreover, only 46.3% of Hoosiers meet the aerobic PA (physical activity) recommendations of at least 150 minutes per week, which ranks Indiana as the ninth worst of all 50 states (2019 BRFSS)." Read more here.

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​Let's work together to make Indianapolis the happiest and healthiest city in America!​​

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