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My current home state of Missouri is filled with lots of lard laden lads and lasses. Cannibals would be licking their chops to no end if they moved here and scoped out the game. I'm surprised that is not ranked higher than 11th for adults. The kids and 20 somethings are definitely in better shape than people over 30 to 35 years of age.
Colorado (my home state) has the least obesity. Part of this is that I think we import lots of fit people from other states who are attracted to the outdoor sports culture here. We also have a rather young, affluent population that always tends to be pretty fit. In this way we have a lot in common with Washington and Oregon, but I think we attract even more outdoors-seekers here than they do. Even so, I'm not surprised to find those two states among the least Obese too.
The elephant in the room here is the fact that you can draw a clear racial and socioeconomic relationship to the level of obesity. Wealthy states with few minorities (especially in New England and the Pac NW) are going to be low on the list of most obese. Poorer states with high levels of immigration and/or minorities (e.g. the southeast and southwest) will have higher rates of obesity. Big cities tend to have both things going on -- a lot of affluence, but at the same time diversity and immigration -- so those tend to be a mixed bag.
If you compare people of similar income levels and racial/ethnic characteristics nationwide, I think you'll come up with pretty much the same results -- outside of a few outliers in western states like Colorado due to the obsession with outdoor sports.
Coastal areas of the NW, yes. The interior regions of most of WA and OR are fairly poor economically with higher obesity rates over time.
The elephant in the room here is the fact that you can draw a clear racial and socioeconomic relationship to the level of obesity. Wealthy states with few minorities (especially in New England and the Pac NW) are going to be low on the list of most obese. Poorer states with high levels of immigration and/or minorities (e.g. the southeast and southwest) will have higher rates of obesity. Big cities tend to have both things going on -- a lot of affluence, but at the same time diversity and immigration -- so those tend to be a mixed bag.
If you compare people of similar income levels and racial/ethnic characteristics nationwide, I think you'll come up with pretty much the same results -- outside of a few outliers in western states like Colorado due to the obsession with outdoor sports.
Um, how is the elephant in the room race if it is not comparable with the data presented. Kentucky and West Virginia are two states with some of the highest percentage of non-hispanic whites in their population and both are one of the worst with dates like New York, Florida and New Jersey nowhere near the worst, how can diversity be a bad thing. Let's face facts: Southern food plus sprawl leads to higher obesity.
The kids and 20 somethings are definitely in better shape than people over 30 to 35 years of age.
Well that's true pretty much anywhere you go because human metabolism decreases with age.
Anyway...
Pennsylvania ranks 19th-highest in obese adults (28.5%), and 25th-highest in obese children (15.0%). Georgia ranks 17th-highest in obese adults (28.7%), and 2nd-highest in obese children (21.3%).
Well if you look at the adult rates, with the exception of a few western states, the differences in percentage points is not that great. Even the lowest rates are still too high.
It's interesting that our ranking for child obesity is less stellar. I wonder what dynamic is at play with this divergence. What is also quite discouraging, is that we are one of the best states by this measure, yet more than 1 in 5 adults is obese.
Well if you look at the adult rates, with the exception of a few western states, the differences in percentage points is not that great. Even the lowest rates are still too high.
I'm afraid the statistics in this thread don't quite reveal the true horror of our obesity problems.
You want to know how Colorado's 2010 obesity rate of 19.8% would have compared to a mere 15 years ago? Worst in the USA.
Mississippi tips scale as nation's fattest state *| ajc.com (http://www.ajc.com/health/mississippi-tips-scale-as-1003577.html - broken link)
Yes, it's quite shocking: in 1995, not a single state was ABOVE 20% obesity. Now, only one state remains BELOW that level (this will be short-lived, I'm afraid).
This might be America's #1 problem right now. We're literally killing ourselves with food. Type II Diabetes alone is a crippling health problem:
Quote:
The disease has become more than twice as common since 1980, and the rate is rising precipitously. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 7% of Americans, roughly 21m people, have diabetes. At least 54m Americans have elevated blood sugar levels and are at risk of developing the full-blown disease. Rates are considerably higher among American Indians, African-Americans and Latinos.
The economic costs of the disease were conservatively estimated at $132 billion in 2002, and the figure is rising. “If you look forward 10 or 15 years,” says Dr C. Ronald Kahn of the Joslin Diabetes Centre in Boston, “we really won't be able to afford the amount of health care this is going to cost.”
And the human costs are profound. Diabetes contributes to several hundred thousand deaths each year. It doubles the risk of heart disease and stroke, and it is the country's leading cause of adult blindness, kidney failure, and non-traumatic amputations. People with diabetes are also vulnerable to tangential conditions. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, people with diabetes may be twice as likely to become depressed.
Well, at least we aren't "Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, (or) West Virginia"!
But seriously, I can't help but wonder if quote/unquote 'Smart Growth' has something to do with encouraging people to get away from the internet, out of that La-Z-Boy and walk somewhere. Or maybe it's just me? Since buying a home in the suburbs I've put on 20 pounds, drink too much coffee and log 4+ hours a day online.
So pathetic. Can't wait to get back on the trails.
I wish people would quit blaming food for obesity. The number 1 cause of obesity is poverty. The South is the most proverty-stricken region in the country.
Sitting here laughing and mocking other regions obesity issues is stupid because as a whole; the entire USA is getting bigger. The numbers have shown this.
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