Obesity has been a hot topic lately. Childhood obesity has drawn the attention of the White House and some have even called it a matter of national security. On Tuesday, June 29th, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health issued their report “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010.” The report painted a bleak picture for the nation, especially in the South.
Overall, 38 states had obesity rates over 25%. This is a drastic increase since no state was over 20% in 1991. In the past year alone, the number of states with an obesity rate over 30% has doubled. Last year there were only 4 states over 30%, now there 8 states. 28 states saw an increase.
The South did the worst of any region. 10 of the 11 states with the highest rates were in the South. Michigan, who tied for 10th place, was the only state north of the Mason-Dixon that made the top 10. Florida, the only Southern state that wasn’t in the top 20, was in a 3 way tie for 36th place. The state with the lowest rate of obesity was Colorado with a 19.1% rate.
The study also found race was a factor. African-Americans and Latinos had higher obesity rates than whites in 40 states. White males had the lowest rate at 29.5% while African-American women had the highest rate at 43.4%. Education was also a factor in obesity rates with 33.6% of those who didn’t graduate from high school being obese compared to a 22% rate among college graduates. There was also a strong correlation between income and obesity rates with lower incomes having higher rates.
Florida had an overall rate of 25.1%, but before we get too excited, that is an increase of approximately 1%. Overall, men in the Sunshine State had a much higher obesity rate than women, 27.6% compared to 22.6%. White males had a 26.6% rate, African-American males had a 32.8% rate and Hispanic males had a 30.1% rate. White females in Florida had a 19.7% rate, African-American females were at 38.8% and Hispanic females were at 25.2%.
The states with the highest rates were:
1) Mississippi- 33.8%
2) Alabama and Tennessee- 31.6%
4) West Virginia- 31.3%
5) Louisiana- 31.2%
6) Oklahoma- 30.6%
7) Kentucky- 30.5%
8) Arkansas- 30.1%
9) South Carolina- 29.9%
10) Michigan and North Carolina- 29.4%
Where are you on that chart? Where do you want to be at next year? How do you plan to get there? These are questions we should all be asking ourselves.
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