NORWAY – The good news is, there are fewer teens smoking in the Oxford Hills than there were six years ago.

The bad news is, the percentage of adult smokers in the Oxford Hills is still much higher than the state average.

Not only that, more adults are overweight or obese in the Oxford Hills than the rest of the state. And Maine is one of the fattest states, statistically, in the nation.

“Tobacco use and alcohol use are both pretty serious concerns” among health professionals, said Ken Morse, director of Healthy Oxford Hills.

They remain among the most disturbing trends contained in a 40-page health assessment report done for Community Concepts Inc., and presented to the public at an Oct. 27 forum at the Harper Conference Center.

Data compiled by the Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey shows that the percentage of Oxford County students in grades six to 12 using cigarettes fell from 27 to 17 percent from 1998 to 2002. “That’s good, but it’s still too much,” said Morse.

The local statistics compare with a state decline from 20 to 15 percent over the same period.

Alcohol use by Oxford County students in grades six to 12 has also noticeably dipped, the survey found, from 37 to 32 percent.

The story is different, however, when compared to surveys of the adult population.

“One out of three adults in the Oxford Hills smoke,” said Morse, citing a smoking rate in the Oxford Hills of 32.75 percent. That compares to 23.5 percent for the state. “It’s quite high,” he said.

Binge drinking is also a problem for adults, with 21 percent of the Oxford Hills survey respondents saying that have had five or more drinks at one time at least once or twice in the past month. The state rate for binge drinking is 15 percent.

Morse said six out of every 10 people in Maine are overweight or obese, which is higher than the national average. Obesity-related deaths nationally, at 400,000 a year, now rival smoking-related deaths, at 440,000 a year.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do on obesity,” he said.