“Fat” may be the new normal in America. Drawing on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a report from JAMA Internal Medicine found that more than three quarters of American adults today are either overweight or obese. And for the first time in history, the number of obese people has surpassed that of the merely overweight. In the past two decades, especially, America’s weight problem has grown dramatically, inspiring a surge of new programs and products designed to promote better health and help Americans shed the extra pounds.
With November being National Diabetes Awareness Month, and Americans collectively spending up to $315.8 billion annually on obesity-related medical treatment, the personal-finance website, WalletHub, took an in-depth look at 2016's Fattest States in America.
In order to encourage America to tip the scale back to good health, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 17 key metrics. They range from “percentage of adults and children who are overweight and obese” to “sugary-beverage consumption among adolescents.”
In the graphic below, a rank of No. 1 corresponds to the state with the biggest weight problems.
Source: WalletHub
Top 20 Fattest States
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
- South Carolina
- Alabama
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Delaware
- Indiana
- Arizona
- North Dakota
- New Mexico
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Ohio
- Kansas
- Missouri
Key Stats
Colorado has the lowest percentage of obese adults, 21.3 percent, which is 1.7 times lower than in Arkansas, the state with the highest at 35.9 percent.
Colorado has the lowest percentage of physically inactive adults, 16.4 percent, which is 1.9 times lower than in Mississippi, the state with the highest at 31.6 percent.
Colorado has the lowest percentage of diabetic adults, 6.8 percent, which is 2.2 times lower than in Mississippi, the state with the highest at 14.7 percent.
Minnesota has the lowest percentage of adults with high blood pressure, 25.2 percent, which is 1.5 times lower than in Louisiana and Mississippi, the states with the highest, both at 38.0 percent.
To view the full report and your state’s or the District’s ranking, please visit: wallethub.com/edu/fattest-states/16585/