Obesity, diabetes rates highest in South

[The Straight Story]

Obesity, diabetes rates highest in South

ATLANTA, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Areas of the Southeast, Appalachia and some tribal lands in the West and Northern Plains have the highest U.S. rates of obesity and diabetes, officials say.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said Thursday that 81 percent of counties in the Appalachian region that includes Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia have high rates of diabetes and obesity. Three-quarters of counties in the southern region that includes Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina also have high rates of diabetes and obesity.

In many of these counties, the rates of diagnosed diabetes exceed 10 percent and obesity prevalence is more than 30 percent, the CDC estimated.

"Diabetes is costly in human and economic terms, and it's urgent that we take action to prevent and control this serious disease," Dr. Ann Albright, director of CDC's division of diabetes translation, said in a statement. "The study shows strong regional patterns of diabetes and can help focus prevention efforts where they are most needed."

The estimates were derived from the CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which uses self-reported data from state-based adult telephone surveys and 2007 census data.

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/11/19/Obesity-diabetes-rates-highest-in-South/UPI-92191258658065/

[mike_c]

1. what's the correlation with poverty...?

Cheap food, empty calories, recreational alcohol, and poor access to medical care.

on edit: low literacy/education rates, too?

[queenjane]

3. In my Southern family, it's mostly preference for the unhealthy food

None of them are wealthy, but they're not destitute. Very few drink. Very few use tobacco. They see doctors all the time--then grouse that the docs nag them to lose weight, exercise, and eat healthier foods. They complain about the costs of all the prescriptions they have to take. But give up mac & cheese, pork, fried foods, sugary desserts, sugary sodas? No way, they say. They LIKE these foods. One cousin told me his first heart catherization was no big deal, and if he had to have another, he didn't care. :wtf:

[Individualist]

4. Lowest income counties in the U.S...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowest-income_counties_in_the_United_States

[TNDemo]

8. That was interesting.

The worst counties were the Dakotas and Alaska and Texas.

[Johonny]

7. obesity in the US has a high correlation with poverty

I don't think there is a consensus on why...

[mike_c]

11. yes, I know....

That was my point-- there wasn't any mention of poverty in the OP, which I find surprising.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Quite direct actually

and given the concentration of agricultural areas, as well as chemicals in some of these areas...

Time to overlay maps... actually.

Multifactorial but there is more to this than just one thing.

[mike_c]

13. that was my feeling as well....

eom

[izquierdista]

2. And hunger is in the same place

There is a new kind of hunger in the U.S. Instead of not getting enough quantity to eat and looking thin and wasted, people are getting not enough quality food to eat and they turn into obese diabetics.

[CakeGrrl]

5. I love me some sweet tea and Waffle House, but

they'll get ya if you consume enough.

One thing I noticed when I've visited the South and Southwest was no shortage of eateries. Besides the national chains, there are some regional places that are terrible for indulging guilty junk food pleasures.

I was visiting family in El Paso, and just blocks away from their neighborhood was a glut of chain restaurants and takeout. I thought to myself then: "The south sure loves their food!"

[LuckyLib]

10. Exactly. When I have to travel for work in the South, I moan that it will be days before I can find

any decent food. Salads in some restaurants? Piled on with crumbled bacon and shredded cheese. And lots of it. It's a culture of high fat, high salt, high calorie foods. And fried, deep fried.

[Shell Beau]

15. All of those are offered, but healthy versions are offered too.

People tend not to choose the healthy options. I live in the very deep south, and every restaurant I go to has healthy options. It is a matter of ordering the healthy options.

[doc03]

6. I saw a map yesterday I believe it was in the USA Today paper

that showed the south had by far the largest percentage of kids getting school lunch assistance. Yet the south is solid Republican and I thought they didn't believe in Socialism.

[taterguy]

9. I'm sure the fact that most people use cars for transportation in the South has no impact

Unlike parts of the country where people walk and bike places.

What's the obesity rate for Portland?

I guess I could look it up but since I'm a Southerner I'm too damn lazy.

[Shell Beau]

16. I think exercise is a huge issue.

I don't have the option to bike to work. I can bike around my neighborhood though. It is a laziness factor for sure. And it is also unhealthy living all the way around. All of the people I know here in MS that have diabetes have access to exercise and healthy foods. I am not saying there aren't poor people here. There are loads of them. But it isn't just a poverty thing. I can name 5 people just off the top of my head that have diabetes. Weight induced diabetes. They aren't poor. Bad decisions and yes, laziness.

[taterguy]

18. Places where people have transportation options have lower obesity which is my point

Very few people like to exercise.

But if you can combine it with doing something else it's much easier.

[Shell Beau]

14. MS seems to be number one in all the bad crap and

last in all of the good stuff!! x(

[justabob]

19. MS and TX

That is what I always say about my beloved Texas... bottom of the list of good things, top of the list for bad things.... MS and TX are always together on those lists.

[Shell Beau]

21. Well, we have a ways to go.

x(

[KoKo]

17. Coke & Pepsi fed in Baby Bottles as "sugar" and Fast Food Chains took hold in the South

because of Lack of Zoning Restrictions much faster than the NE, MidWest and California Veggie/Natural Foods Places.

Diet of South changed abruptly from Agrarian to Fast Food and Coke and Pepsi (being the drink of choice first marketed in South (Southern Business) took over in "Post WWII America." Then it was TV DINNERS...and sugar treats like "Honey Buns and Coke," "Pork Rinds and Coke" and "Grease, Pork and French Fries."

South was the "Perfect Storm" for "Fast Food Expriments" that took hold and gave folks a chance to get out to eat.

I could post more...but it makes me tired...because few DU'er's read past "Subject Line" and "Fewer" read what you say. And, if I posted links...even fewer would bother and this post would get "Unrecommends." So...I don't bother these days...and neither do other DU'ers who could spend time giving links that would educate...but they know it's a WASTE OF THEIR TIME.

So...search the TOPIC for YOURSELF. DO YOUR OWN WORK!

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Hugs and yes I know EXACTLY what you mean

:hugs: