TIME MAG: Why Are Southerners So Fat?

TIME:

People from Mississippi are fat. With an adult obesity rate of 33%, Mississippi gobbled its way to the "chubbiest state" crown for the fifth year in a row, according to a new joint report by Trust For America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Alabama, West Virginia, and Tennessee aren't far behind, with obesity rates over 30%. In fact, eight out of the 10 fattest states are in the South. The region famous for its biscuits, barbecue and pecan pies has been struggling with its weight for years -- but then again, so has the rest of the country. Wisconsin loves cheese, New Yorkers scarf pizza, and New Englanders have been known to enjoy a crab cake or two. So why is the South so portly?

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[quindy]

Only in the US are poor people fat. Poor people in other countries don't have money to buy food and are slim (see Africa, India). Even if you eat junk every day you have to have huge quantities to become obese so there is money for food, but people choose to buy junk. Africans and Indians rural population walks, there are no cars for them. If there is money to buy a car, there must be some money left to buy an apple. I really think that Americans are fat because they choose to eat fatty food in LARGE QUANTITIES. The researchers should look at immigrants in this country who are poor and not fat - Chinese for example. If you stroll through the China Town in NYC you will not see one fat person. The vendors there are not rich. You will see them eating their rice and some vegetables for lunch. I have never seen one eating a hot dog or pizza.

A bowl of rice or pasta with vegetables cannot cost more than the junk food that's available in the supermarket. But, the bowl of rice has to be cooked, vegetables have to be washed and chopped and most people in this country are too lazy to do that too.

[sposton]

Just go to any grocery store and witness what foods and beverages people are buying. Correlate the fat index with the amount of corn sweetener (and other sugars) in the "food". Watch how much of that "food" is ingested while watching TV. The preponderance of fried food with a heavy dose of highly processed flours does not help. There is more then poverty factor at work; these states have always had high poverty levels but there were never as many fat people in the past.

[Okieborn]

Yikes !!!

[GraceNotes]

We are a nation, if not of addicts, but certainly a people who do not like to be denied ANY pleasure, EVER!
Whether it be internet porn, recreational medication, an extramarital affair, or an extra helping of chicken fried steak, we want what we want, whenever we want it. The South does not have a lock on bad behavior.
Of course it is much easier to point out the other fellow's problem. I watch the Food Network, or used to, before I went on a diet, and I have seen plenty of guys "belly up" to the cheese steak place in Philadelphia, and none of those men should ever wear a Speedo! (And someone will have to explain to me how Cheez Whiz is better than Velveeta!)

[totaldisbelief]

Velveeta is better because it can also be a girl's name.

[cdnnewsjunky]

Ohh, I dunno, maybe because health is related to education!

[HopeGrenade]

I'm sorry, I don't buy this. Fewer groceries does not equal more fattening food. The south is also home to a number of farms. I strongly doubt that fruits and vegetables are any more expensive down there or that they're not affordable. The problem, I think, lies in a faulty culture that does not value health, and that's American culture, not just the South.

And it's too hot to exercise? Come on. The hotter it is, the more calories you burn, so a Southerner doesn't have to exercise as much as a Northerner to achieve similar results.

It's not an issue of nature, it's a collection of easily controllable circumstances. More gyms, more focus on health and yes, more sidewalks, less reliance on cars to get around. It's not a problem with Southerners. It's a problem with the South.

[macintoshsauce]

Texas is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables after California.

[local21]

Plenty of jobs for nose tackles, nightclub bouncers, and celebrity security.

[epiphany1234]

Family circumstances forced me to live in the South and one of the first things I noticed was the obsession with food. Food was ALL important...it dominated time, money, conversation....and unabashedly so. At the opposite end of the spectrum was health and exercise.....it consumed no time, no money, and no discussion. I was shocked at the scarcity of gyms, for example, and how expensive they were when located. I was routinely asked to pay $500/600 for an annual membership (compared to the northeast where $200 was paid), in a region where salaries are typically low and it's too hot to exercise outdoors at least 6 months of the year. Joggers, bikepaths, and sidewalks are a RARE sights in the south.....but fast food restaurants, barbeque huts, donut shops and dairy queens are on every corner. Supermarkets and fresh fruit stands -- which in NYC are everywhere--are few and far between in the South. But this distinction goes beyond mere culture -- southern people are not as mentally forward thinking as peoplare in other parts of the country. Where I live, they don't even recycle trash....just too much of a bother, ya know? I am not being "elitist".....these are just facts.

[MadHeart]

Good points, but there's a psychological factor, too. I have pictures of my mother, father and other relatives from the 30s and 40s and they were ALL slim, a lot of it due to lack of food during the depression and WWII. I myself remember not having much to eat even during the 50s and 60s because we were poor. I learned more about nutrition (became a total veg at 40) and exercised more than most down here, getting exercise on the cheap (walking and following an exercise program on TV) since there was no money for a gym.

Food is ubiquitous all over the country now, fairly cheap if you compare it as a budget item than it was 25 years ago or more, and if you scratch an overweight person's history, you are going to find that it's a huge class issue. The south has far more people in poverty even today than any other area of the country and the instinct is to pack in the fat and carbs and to spend more on food than anything else.

[MadHeart]

We recycled when I lived in Charlotte--for years. Here in this county, we have "convenience sites" where a lot of people take their garbage, and you can recycle paper, glass, aluminum and even household items, and many people do. You pay for your own private garbage pickup and they don't have recycling pickup in this county.

[Mij13]

Yeah? Also, how come? And while we're at it, why do the women wear too much cheap perfume?

[DeeDeeDaGumby]

generalize much?

[Colmore]

Is that a photo of governor Haley Barbour in drag?? He is considering running for president.

[totaldisbelief]

drag is right ...she needs wheels on that thing.

[tragiclaura]

I was born and raised in the south, and already this article is overanalyzing the issue. I can tell you first hand that IN GENERAL southerners just don't care about health. They don't make a conscious decision to not exercise because it's hot or not eat healthy because they are poor. It just isn't an issue that people sit around talking about or worrying about. When I lived in California for awhile I noticed that there was a great deal of talk even in the workplace of healthy food, healthy eating, working out, etc. Southerners IN GENERAL just don't care about this stuff, and that is all there is too it--no mystery. The south is a culture that is all about food and eating, and delicious food it is! The south also IN GENERAL routinely finds the health obsessions of Californians (another stereotype) to be obnoxious and rejects it. That said, there are also plenty of healthy, fit southerners out there, too.

[paulfromportland]

Yes, and how interesting that on the page just to the right of the photo of the lady, is a very large, overweight Northerner, Michael Moore. Now, that guy can afford to pay for any gym, so.....???

[tragiclaura]

Yes, I guess we won't be seeing Michael Moore, the crown prince of the "Liberal Elite Media" ever do a documentary on the obesity crisis. lol

[Boboday555]

I must have missed that part of the article where it said no northerners are fat.
This is what's wrong with this country.

Too many angry little children stomping their feet and holding their refusing to listen or read like an adult!

Let me guess...Alabama...no Mississippi right?

[Srithanatos]

I'm West Virginian and I think you're pretty spot-on with your post. While there are all sorts of socio-economic, educational, political and/or religious factors involved with the obesity rates in southern states, the bottom-line is (in my experience) that people don't care that much about healthy foods, portion control and exercise. One of the common phrases I've heard throughout the years from people whenever the issue of health is raised in a conversation is "Well, we're going to die anyway, so why worry about it?"

[ChuckStake]

Exercise is healthy, but it is vastly overrated for weight loss. Many studies have shown that very few people can lose weight and keep it off with exercise alone. Also, the very light exercise described in this article won't burn enough calories to make a difference.

The main problem is what lots of people have said here, the TYPE of food, eating very rich foods. Someone who fills their stomach with greasy hamburgers has eaten many, many more calories than if they ate carrots instead.

[HopeGrenade]

Never become a personal trainer. Light exercise doesn't make a difference? The issue isn't calories, my man, it's health. You can be as fat as you like, so long as you're healthy. If you don't get exercise regularly, you're going to be a cesspool of heart disease. Contrary to popular belief, it's not the calories that kill you.

Many studies? Name one.

[Siobhan11]

I am not a doctor, and am overweight. I have always been lead to believe that the extra weight puts additional strain on the heart. I realize exercising strengthens the heart. But still, Tim Russert died after getting off his treadmill. He supposedly exercised almost every day. After he died a doctor on TV said - "weight does matter".

[rollingdivision]

* African American women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other groups in the U.S. About four out of five African American women are overweight or obese.1
* In 2005, African Americans were 1.4 times as likely to be obese as Non- Hispanic Whites.
* From 2001-2004, African American women were 70% more likely to be obese than Non-Hispanic White women.
* In 2003-2004, African American children between ages 6 -17 were 1.3 times as likely to be overweight than Non-Hispanic Whites.

http://www.omhrc.gov/templates/content.aspx?ID=6456

[HarlemFreeThought]

Sad observation of concern are kids traveling to school stuffing, literarily stuffing there mouths with salt and sugar laden "foods". Chips, Pepsi in the morning?

[Boboday555]

Racist much?
Let me guess, South Carolina...no wait Kentucky?

[macintoshsauce]

Well... I hate to tell you but statistics are remarkably accurate if there is no inherent bias in the study.

[ladycubsfan]

I am in the Midwest. If I had the money to splurge on groceries, I could be overweight now. We are in a recession and I've had to cut back and make more with less. I call it the "poor man's diet." What I am saying is, if someone is overweight, it's not because they're poor. Give me a break!
I don't mean to be insensitive, but, what is it with obese people and their choice of clothing? The woman in the picture, for example...Who shot the couch?
I've often wondered why some heavy people dress in such loud, in your face fabrics? If I were obese, I would not want to draw any more attention to myself than is necessary.
Please, go have your thyroid checked...it could be as simple as that.

[Ira7]

Those pants are very slimming. Can't you tell?

[Siobhan11]

As a person who has battled weight issues, not anywhere to the degree of the photo here, I can say a few things - as far as clothing - the choices available have improved but still a tiny precent of what is available for thin people. And if poor, they are probably getting clothes from charity stores - even less selection.

I don't want to pretend I eat like a bird but I have been a acquainted with thin women who literally eat me under the table, don't exercise at all, and weigh a lot less than myself. I would like to see more acknowledgment about the role metabolism plays in people's weight . I do realize you mentioned thyroid.

Not that you should be unhealthy and say oh heck it's just my metabolism. A person, should still strive to be healthy. I went for an hour and a half bike ride last night, hour and a half walk 2 nights before that. But I have a terrible time in the Buffalo winters. I was going to a gym till skyrocketing gas costs made it too expensive to get there. So I suppose my income level plays a role also.


Unfortunately metabolism is not just a matter of thyroid, because mine checks out fine.

Not angry here - just trying to be a voice to those who think all fat people are gluttons.

[Gordo10]

Umm they live in the South, they have little or no education. But what the write up did not mention is this. Look at the states the have the highest amount of fat @sses

[cdnnewsjunky]

I guess I'm going to have to give you credit for saying what I said, only you said it first. (I generally read a goodly number of posts on a topic before I post something, not this morning though).

[doctordoubt]

Now look for the states that have the most fat heads.