Nationally, obesity is still rising and Virginia ranks 28th, but in the Augusta Health service area obesity exceeds the national average. The hospital is trying to change that.

"Weight has been something I've struggled with my entire life. Ups and downs, ups and downs," says Dana Breeding who has used her struggle with weight to help others.

She's a health educator at Augusta Health Community Center and, while she considers herself to be fairly healthy, she knew she could do more.

Breeding says, "I still realized that I needed to lose some weight in respect to diabetes in my family, heart disease in my family, etc."

Linda Gail Johnson, a community health nurse, says, "It's recognized as an issue and where everybody is dedicated to making change. It still requires that individual change and that's the hard part.

Johnson says that knowing the difference between being overweight and obese is crucial. She says being ten percent over your body mass index is considered overweight, while being 20 percent over is considered obese.

Breeding explains, "I didn't count, count calories. Just fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat meat and dairy in relation to cholesterol health and heart health. Exercise has to be a piece of it. It's not an option."

The quick fixes don't work. Experts say weight loss is something you have to be committed to doing.

"It's a lifestyle change," says Breeding. "It's something you have to do your entire life."

In the Augusta Health service area, 57 percent of adults are either overweight or obese as are 37 percent of children.