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Fried chicken? No wait, big a$$ burritos? Ok . . . wait! I got it! No walkable neighborhoods, therefore we sit in our gigantic autos while we chomp on our Whataburgers?
Dude, you're overgeneralizing. There are some rail-thin people, stuffed people, and just right people all over.
Heck, people think the U.S. as a whole is one giant fat farm.
Anyway, I like it when someone's got a little meat on their bones. JUICY.
So, um, If I can cut in for a second here, why are people in the south fatter?
I think it's because there's less community cohesion and walkable / bikable paths.
Oh, and deep frying everything in sight probably doesn't help either.
A few days ago I was reading a news article on the internet which listed the states in order by which had the highest percentage of overweight people. All of the southern states had the highest percentage and took the top ten spots. I wish I could find that link again but as I recall Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee were the top three with over 30% of the population overweight. It just makes me wonder why this is the case. I don't know that the diet of people in the south is all that different from other parts of the country. Afterall, we have fast food restaurants from coast to coast. One thought I have is that maybe a hot humid climate might tend to make people live a more sedentary lifestyle. When I go out and mow the lawn I'm soaking wet by the time I'm done and can't wait to get back into the house. Can anyone else explain why people in the south are so overweight?
Look at the numbers and not the colors. The highest is 32% and the lowest is 19%, a 13% difference. The majority of the country is at least 25%, so is the south really that much fatter?
I do think it has a lot to do with ethnic diversity (some groups of people are more prone to being fat/skinny) and climate. Down here it is WAY too hot to go outside and exercise for very long like you can up north many days of the year. Nobodyl ikes doing outdoor activities when its 105 degrees with 97% humidity. Also, speaking for Louisiana, the food here is dynamite, but very very high in carbohydrates and fat. It uses a lot of cheap ingredients, which arent the healthiest things you could find in a supermarket for certain. Couple that with the aforementioned lack of exercise, and you get why Louisiana is such a fat state. I also think poverty ironically has osmething to do with it as well, because its a lot more expensive today to eat healthy. Its so much cheaper to just buy a TV dinner or something from Taco Bell.
My southern relatives a few generations ago ate the typical Southern diet of fried foods (fried chicken, fried okra, fried squash, etc). Sure, the fried food diet can lead to health problems, but the older generations, who didn't eat as much meat, ate more vegetables, and worked in the fields, were not obese, or even chunky. Whereas my contemporary southern relatives, who grew up with soft drinks always in the house, fast food, and little physical activity, are obese. Same genetics (same family lineage), different results. The switch to processed foods, which are cheap, and daily soft drinks, and no exercise, is the culprit, I believe.
wouldn't there then be tons of overweight ppl anywhere it was hot for most of the year?
the caribbean, southeast asia, the middle east, the continent of africa, etc. would have a ton of overweight ppl if that were true. add large portions of south america to that mix.
i still think it has to do with diet and lack of public transportation.
Actually, with all the heat and humidty I find I have little desire to eat, or move around, since moving here.
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