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It may be the land of beer and cheese, but Wisconsin is only the 25th fattest state in the country, the same slot it held in 2008. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America's Health, 26 percent of adult state residents were considered obese based on their body mass index (BMI). This is up from 25.5 percent in 2007 when Wisconsin ranked 22nd overall.
When ranking obesity rates among children, Wisconsin compared favorably to other states. Wisconsin ranked 40th with 27.9 percent of children ages 10 to 17 considered overweight or obese. Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled nationwide since 1980.
The rankings were released as part of a report titled "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America 2009." Now in its sixth year, the report blames local, state and federal governments for not doing more to address the obesity epidemic now plaguing the country. Adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year, according to the report.
While Wisconsin has a reputation for having overweight citizens, it pales in comparison to states in the South which harbor three of the top four fattest states: Mississippi (32.5 percent), Alabama (31.5 percent), and Tennessee (30.2 percent). West Virginia ranked third overall at 31.1 percent.
Mississippi had the highest rate (44.4 percent) of overweight and obese children ages 10 to 17. Eight of the 10 states with the highest rates of obese and overweight children are in the South.
The state with the lowest percentage of obese adults was Colorado (18.9 percent). Minnesota and Utah were tied for the lowest percentage of overweight and obese children (23.1 percent).
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