Cedar County to talk health issues Friday

TIPTON - Cedar County Public Health will hold a community screening of the HBO documentary “The Weight of the Nation,” at 1 p.m. Friday at Hardacre Theater, 112 E. Fifth St.

The 90-minute event will include a discussion of health issues facing Cedar County.

Panelists include Mike Boyle, USDA Rural Development; Nancy Carlisle, clinical dietitian at Mercy Diabetes Education Center; and Denyse Gipple, an epidemiologist for the Iowa Department of Public Health.

According to the county health rankings, 33 percent of Cedar County adults are obese, compared to 29 percent statewide.

Contributing factors include limited access to healthy food and lack of physical activity - 48 percent of the county's restaurants are fast food and 25 percent of adults report they have no physical activity.