America's Fattest (And Slimmest!) Cities

In light of America's rising obesity rate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took stock of over 350,000 to determine the fattest and slimmest states in the country.

According to ABC News, the states with the biggest waistlines are Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, with obesity rates for 30% or higher. They are followed by Louisiana (29.8%), West Virginia (29.5%), and then Arkansas, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma, all with rates hovering above 28%.

The slimmest? Colorado - a mere 3.7% away from the nation's goal rate of 15% obesity. After Colorado, the next lowest rates are in the 21% range, which includes Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Utah, Montana, and Washington, D.C.

Still, those states where people stay trimmer than most include Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Utah, Montana and Washington, D.C. In those places, obesity rates ranged between 21.2 and 21.8 percent, respectively.

Read the whole story at abcnews.comc.

Comments

[TheBlackCat]

I'm going to have to go with culture as the biggest factor. Whenever I go down South to visit my husband's families or college friends (I went to school down south) I am always teased for my healthy, vegetarian lifestyle. Breakfast is always sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, fried eggs, krispy cream donuts. My husband is told by pretty much every male relative of his "No wife of MINE would ever be a vegetarian!" They are amazed that he "allows" me to be this way, nevermind the fact I was a vegetarian for 11 years before we met and I still cook HIM meat to eat. Many Southerners see eating healthy and caring about your health as being indicative of being a "sissy treehugger." REAL MEN eat fried EVERYTHING, including vegetables!
It's not like they're too stupid to know which foods are good for them, though, as some people on this post would indicate. They just don't CARE. I have been told time and again by southern friends and family that they'd RATHER die young than eat the way I do.

And really, that's their choice. I would rather be able to be active and have a good quality of life later on, and a lot of energy in my day to day life from eating well and exercizing. But they would rather eat deep fried fatty food. And this is America, and they are free to make that choice!

[Soothsayer08]

I live in Boston and must ride the subway which by the way isn't "world class" There are lots of fat people here that take up 2 and 3 seats. OMG.

[TheBlackCat]

I live in Boston too and you're right, there are DEFINATELY plenty of fat people here. But its nothing compared to, say, Atlanta, New Orleans, ANYWHERE in Texas. As you know, everyone around here walks, not everywhere, but when you go through the streets of Boston it's always packed with pedestrians. Jogging/running are also really big here. We're just a more active city than many others in America. When you go to many southern cities you don't really see many people walking around, never mind running. Maybe its because they have all that space to park!

[marignymitch]

Just proves once again that Southern food is the undisputed best. No wonder Americans elsewhere are so skinny; they're starving!

[ErnestineBass]

Yes Ma'am! Cat head buttermilk biscuits,country ham and redeye gravy...gooooood. 8-d

[Pacific231]

That's baloney, pun intended. The crappier the food, the more fat and salt-loaded it is. We eat like kings here in Boston, thank you very much, with some of the finest fish in the country, excellent locally grown produce...

Eating right = Eating well.

Being fit and trim != "starving".

To quote Erma Bombeck, IIRC: "I was raised in a midwest family where gravy was considered a beverage."

[Pacific231]

EDIT: "crappier" as in how bad it is for you. No doubt traditional southern cooking is tasty, but as a way of life - not such a good personal health plan.

[TN]

Went out for a walk this evening and the air was soo thick you could cut it with a knife, stunk too.

[JScott]

Even in Austin Tx. the Whole Foods (where their corp. office is) salad bar is not as nice as the ones in Calif.

[JScott]

I can understand Louisiana. I was just there and the restaurant next to the hotel didn't have ANY fresh veggie items on the menu, it was all either white bread, meat, cheese, processed, fried or pickled (naming names-Huddle House restaurant, if ya google it you find the website, this particular restaurant didn't have the salad items). I noticed more heavy set folks in Tx and La while on vac. and more of em driving their suv's and trucks to get those large bodies around (to the fast food, barbecue, steak and big portion eateries).

[manndan]

I live in Colorado in a rural county on the western slope and see an awfully lot of fat people here.

[swift goat pet for truth]

The other places are worse.

[stimpy]

It could just mean Coloradoans are the most in denial or just good liars. That's the problem with asking people how obese they are over the phone! "Oh yes, abs of steel, I'm looking at them right now..."

[caseyblab]

Lots of outdoor sports in Colorado and emphasis on healthy lifestyle and good nutrition. Skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking; almost everyone has access to the great outdoors. Plus the Olympic training centers are in Colorado. It's real.

[gra8whit]

Fat, bible-thumpin' Southerners. Yep. That's exactly what I imagine when I think of the South. Also, they're the least educated and they vote for politicians that act against their interest. Thanks to them, they helped make the 2004 re-election embarrassment happen.

[Jared137]

and those fat bible thumpin southerners are also the least educated. Makes sense...they don't know sh#t about their bodies, health, or evolution.

[WoodyCPM]

The problem with this thinking is that although there may be some truth to it, you end up going to far and smearing ALL people who live or are from the South with it. You turn it into an automatic prejudice. There are historical, cultural and economic reasons why more Southerners than other parts of country are obese, none of which has to do with their "smarts". People who are overweight, no matter where they live, are not dumb. They're overweight. Since there is correlation between weight and smarts, you would appear to be the dumb one, for thinking so.

As I recall the election results from 2004, a great number of states OUTSIDE the South also voted for George W. Bush.

[ErnestineBass]

Thanks, Woody.

I thought about flaming Jesrood and 2wit myself, but bigoted pipsqueaks like those two simply aren't worth the effort.

[WoodyCPM]

I completely screwed that post! ."...you go TOO far..." "ALL people who live IN or are from the South..." "....SInce there is NO correlation between weight and smarts." Jeeesh, this is what I get for doing this just after waking up!

[xpresv]

Hey! I resemble that remark!

I've got the red-state blues...but it's nothing a little fried chicken won't cure!

[Furby]

Kind of surprising that California isn't on the skinny list. Is it just me or do richer states seem to have lower obesity rates than poorer states? From personal experience, it's cheaper to walk out of the supermarket with a bag full of junk than a bag full of healthy food.

[SharonB]

It is just you. Texas is not a poor state.

[BetterDeadthanRedState]

If the best they have to offer is George W. I'd say piss poor.

[LGrace]

That's just not true. Rice and beans, whole-grain bread, eggs, peanut butter, and many fresh fruits and vegetables (just to name a few) are the same price as, or even less expensive than, a bunch of processed crap. As a country we've forgotten what real food looks and tastes like (not to mention how to cook it). There are lots of websites with info about how to eat healthy on a budget. Check 'em out.

(Not being a Pollyanna here. I know some people are truly not able to afford enough food, period. But most of us could eat better without spending more.)

[karma namdak]

So true! It's just amazing (and distgusting to me) what most people put into their bodies these days. Endless amounts of fat and sugar... It's killing us. But I don't know how to change our food culture... it won't be easy. Also, I wonder, if demand for whole foods were to go up, what would happen to prices? Well, even if they went up a bit, that would be offset with the huge money we'd save on healthcare.

[jsarets]

How expensive is rice, beans, and seasonal/frozen vegetables? Some of the healthiest items in the supermarket are also among the cheapest. It's just that some of the most expensive items are also among the healthiest, and we fixate on those.

[totalliberal]

The land of deep-fried turkey and snickers bars is fat. Who'd have thunk?

[expatwing]

Even worse - Scotland is home to the deep fried Mars bar!! (Not kidding!)
There are lots of fat people here too, although not as many grossly obese people as in the US, surprisingly!

[Pacific231]

Minor edit to your post: That's the land of deep-fried turkey AND DEEP-FRIED Snickers bars. :-)

[drakke]

Is there something to be considered re a linkage among/between "serious" obesity, watching NASCAR on TV, and Christian Fundamentalism, given the states involved, and the statistics?

[Pacific231]

Absolutely.

Christian funnymentalism in particular cause one's OPEN mind and NARROW waist to switch places. LOL

[xpresv]

More likely the poverty rates than political affiliation, NASCAR, etc.

In fact, it's more likely a lack of quality education that contributes to all the dumb choices SOME southerners are becoming known for.

[booker52]

My bet would be diet, lack of exercise, culture...
But that would just be a guess. The next would be the area and the weather.

[calgary]

Part of the reason is climate- too hot for people to want to go outside and exert themselves- and poor diet of meat, fat, and fried food.

[dartagnan]

A hot climate doesn't explain it -- if it did, why would there be so many fat people in Minnesota? And Hawaii and Utah can also be pretty damn hot but are low on the obesity rankings. Nope, it's mostly a matter of diet and regional culture.

[xpresv]

...and poverty rates. And health care. and education.

[ScottBodenheimer]

This story is just another stupid way that white people use to feel superior about somebody else.

[mollywood]

How do you know a white person wrote the article? And, why bring "white people" into it? I see fat all over and in comes in all colors........You have a "chip" on your shoulder. So tired of hearing about "those white people" all the time!

[Jain]

I agree with mollywood - Scott has the problem : with white people.

[11907281]

BBBBRRRRWWWWAAAARRRRR ZZZZBBBRRRAAWWWWAAARRR. Really, that's alI my brain got from your post.

[Cynth]

Yeah, let's make race the issue here, instead of public health (and by extension education and poverty). The findings should be alarming to everyone and if you're serious about social improvement, you wouldn't be dismissing this article/report as a racist conspiracy. It might just benefit all races in the end.