[Obesity Discussion]

Mississippi: Gov. Haley Barbour (R) on Thursday will host the Health Mississippi Summit, during which experts will discuss proposals to promote proper diet and exercise among state residents, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports. Mississippi leads the nation in rates of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, conditions that in most cases are preventable through proper diet and exercise. Barbour said, "The chronic disease burden in our state dramatically increases the cost of Medicaid and Medicare," adding, "Businesses lose money because employees miss work. We know that we have tens of thousands of people who are in bad health because of their behavior." In addition, Barbour said that he plans to launch a statewide program targeted at children, state employees, church members and other groups, adding that 25 churches will participate in a pilot program to provide members with information on proper diet and exercise (Byrd, AP/Long Island Newsday, 6/11).