Which states are the most and least obese?

[BigmanPigman]

https://wisevoter.com/state-rankings/most-obese-states/#:~:text=West%20Virginia%20is%20the%20most,an%20obesity%20rate%20of%2039.4%25.

The 10 most obese states are :

1. West Virginia – 40.6%
2. Kentucky – 40.3%
3. Alabama – 39.9%
4. Oklahoma – 39.4%
5. Mississippi – 39.1%
6. Arkansas – 38.7%
7. Louisiana – 38.6%
8. South Dakota – 38.4%
9. Ohio – 37.7%
10. Missouri – 37.3%

The 10 least obese states in the US are :

1. District of Columbia – 24.7%
2. Hawaii – 25%
3. Colorado – 25.1%
4. Massachusetts – 27.4%
5. California – 27.6%
6. New Jersey – 28.2%
7. Washington – 28.8%
8. Vermont – 29%
9. New York – 29.1%
10. Rhode Island – 30.1%

It is interesting to note that all the top 10 least obese states are located on either coast of the United States, suggesting that lifestyle factors such as physical activity outdoors or access to fresh produce could play a role in keeping Americans healthier than other parts of the country where obesity rates are higher due to lack of access to exercise and healthy food options as well as other socio-economic factors like poverty levels or employment opportunities which can impact one’s ability to make healthy choices when it comes to food consumption or exercise habits. Furthermore, all these ten states have some form of legislation against ‘over-sized’ portions or overly sugary foods which could also be contributing factors towards their respective low obesity rates when compared to other regions across America that do not have such regulations in place yet show higher rates of obesity overall than these top ten least obese states combined.

[Sky Jewels]

1. I am from the Midwest but have mostly lived on the coasts

especially the west coast. Visiting relatives in non-coastal states was always a culture shock in terms of food. We ate so differently and had such different ideas of what constitutes “good” food that it seemed like two different countries. We definitely emphasized fresh vegetables much more than they did. (I know… “ not all Midwesterners” eschew veggies.) One time I contributed avocados to a sandwich-making event and my cousin was just floored (this was the early 90s). That was completely unknown and exotic to her. They ate a lot of meat and their portions were huge in my eyes. And so on.

[ratchiweenie]

2. Note how many Southern states. You know Southern cooking uses lots of fats and lots

of butter and it really is delicious but we all know what it does to our arteries and waistlines. I mean those people don't eat cream pie just at holidays, they eat it all days. Yum.

[hlthe2b]

3. Umm, #3 least obese, Colorado, a costal state?

I see no ocean from The Rockies, no matter how high I climb.

[ret5hd]

7. Some edibles will get you just high enough...

to see whatever you want to see.

[thucythucy]

8. And what about Vermont?

What I see is red versus blue.

For whatever reasons--and I can speculate as to what they are--blue states tend to have healthier populations than red states.

Other measures that show much the same dichotomy: infant mortality higher in red states, teen pregnancy higher in red states, percentage of high school and college graduates higher in blue states, etc.

Hmmm, I wonder what's going on with this...

[Buckeye_Democrat]

10. Unhealthy gut flora are affecting their brains...

... to make them angry and gullible Fox News viewers?

I'm kidding, but who knows? Gut flora have been proven to affect the brain.

[question everything]

14. Colorado was always considered having a healthy life style. Skiing?

[multigraincracker]

4. I'm not a Foodie.

I eat to live, not live to eat.

[Sky Jewels]

12. DU name checks out.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Try red vs blue rather than coastalness. Redneck vs Volvo liberal lifestyles. Think Meal Team 6. nt

[Buckeye_Democrat]

6. Another difference between red and blue states...

... in general. I'm not exactly sure why, though.

Could obesity be a predictor of the next political mayhem?
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/could-obesity-be-a-predictor-of-the-next-political-mayhem/



After losing my sense of taste from chemotherapy pills, I'm down to the weight of my college days. I can even wear my college ring again! Getting almost no pleasure from eating reduces calorie-intake, I can assure you! I still realize when I'm hungry and I NEED to eat, obviously.

Yet my BMI is currently 25.1, so I'm supposedly "overweight" (not obese) according to that formula. (I have wide shoulders, muscular thighs, etc.)

By the way, this is supposedly a better formula (more closely matching body fat measurements using a high-tech DXA body scan):
https://www.sciencealert.com/new-accurate-rfm-body-fat-measure-could-end-bmi-body-mass-index/amp

MEN: 64 – (20 x height/waist circumference) = RFM
WOMEN: 76 – (20 x height/waist circumference) = RFM

My "RFM" is about 22.

[thucythucy]

9. Hello Buckeye:

I wish you all the best in your struggles with cancer.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

11. Thanks!

I'm supposedly cancer-free now! An Ohio State oncologist just wants me to continue the therapy for a few more months, to help ensure the cancer doesn't return.

[Sky Jewels]

13. This political divide on obesity is so interesting to me.

I'm sure there are many factors, having to do with both non-cultural factors (availability of healthy foods, etc.) and cultural norms. The cultural factors are fascinating. This is just my impression, and I don't have scientific studies to back it up, but "eating like a lib" is definitely frowned upon and there's downright hostility to veganism and vegetarianism in many places. Conversely, meat eating is considered manly and American. "I'm not eating that arugula and rabbit food!" "Michelle Obama isn't going to tell me what to eat!" "I'm a red-blooded American and I'm going to eat as many hamburgers and big chunks of red meat as I can shovel into my mouth!" It can also be an unspoken sentiment. Consuming portions of fried foods and such is just the way people have eaten for decades in certain areas, and being overweight to morbidly obese has been normalized. Kids grow up around obesity and learn not to give these types eating habits a second thought.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

16. Yeah, I think you're correct that much of it...

... is cultural. (Or traditions passed down from ancestors.)

Earlier Americans who ate big meals also tended to be much more physically active than today, working as farmers and such. And it wasn't the very mechanized farming of today, obviously.

Yet when I've seen old paintings of "landed gentry" from early America, who presumably didn't need to be as physically active, many of them looked quite obese in their elder years.

[Sky Jewels]

18. Yes, being "portly" was considered desirable then.

It showed you had the resources to not work in hard labor and that you also had plenty to eat.

[Warpy]

15. Weather might have something to do with it

but it has been long noted that obesity is following the classic pattern of a slowly spreading epidemic, starting near the Gulf coast here and in Mexico and spreading out from there.

Lots of things have been proposed: decreasing activity, high fructose corn syrup in soft drinks, even multi generational tobacco abuse (my fave, I hate smoking) but nothing explains the whole issue because plenty of people are obese with none of these factors.

So there are a lot of tantalizing clues with no solution and no real treatment except starvation.

[NH Ethylene]

17. At least researchers are finally exploring physiological causes.

I think we will finally get answers in the coming years, and with them, some safe nonsurgical treatments.

[Warpy]

19. Yeah, instead of the body shaming and victim blaming that worked SO well

and I don't think I need the sarcasm tag with that statement.

I saw my first 300 pound patient in the late 80s. Now they're coming fast and furious. Something's going on and it's not explained by decreasing exercise or HFCS in the soda.