Source: State of Obesity
The World Health Organization defines overweight as a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more and obesity as a BMI of 30 or more Obese patients are further categorized into class I (BMI 30–34.9), class II (BMI 35–39.9) and class III (BMI 40 or more)( Kaila & Raman, 2008).
Obesity has become a thing of concern in our generation and will likely remain a source of concern in many years to come. About 13% of the world’s adult populations were obese as at 2014 (had BMI≥30Kg/m2) and the proportion of obese individual is fast rising. The comorbidities associated with obesity such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, etc. have remained the leading causes of death worldwide.
The U.S. is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and accordingly has high obesity rates; one-third of the population has obesity while another one-third is overweight. The situation is predicted to worsen (Levine, 2011).
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data in 2016, more than one-third (36.5%) of U.S. adults are obese. The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 and the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight (“Adult Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC,” 2016). This cost of obesity-related medical treatment has now increased to nearly $316 billion annually (Bernardo, 2017).
Differences however exit among states and among cities as regards the statistics of obesity and associated comorbid conditions. According to WalletHub finding that was released in November 2016, the list of the fattest states in the US as at the time of release of the study in decreasing order are as listed below.
Mississippi is the fattest state and also has the highest percentage of obese children while Colorado has the lowest percentage of obese children. Delaware is the state with the highest percentage of overweight adult while Oregon has the lowest percentage of overweight adults. Highest percentage of obese adults resides in Arkansas with California having the lowest. North and South Dakota have the highest and lowest percentage of overweight children respectively.
Mississippi also has the highest percentage of people who are inactive as against Idaho with the lowest percentage of inactive people. The highest percentage of residents with diabetes was found in Mississippi while Montana has the lowest percentage of residents with diabetes. Louisiana has the highest percentage of residents with elevated blood pressure but Montana has the lowest.
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1.Mississippi |
26.Wisconsin |
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2.Louisiana |
27.Maryland |
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3.Arkansas |
28.New Hampshire |
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4.Kentucky |
29.Alaska |
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5.Tennessee |
30.Florida |
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6.West Virginia |
31.Pennsylvania |
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7.South Carolina |
32.District of Columbia |
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8.Alabama |
33.Minnesota |
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9.Texas |
34.Nevada |
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10.Oklahoma |
35.South Dakota |
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11.Delaware |
36.Virginia |
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12.Indiana |
37.Washington |
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13.Arizona |
38.Vermont |
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14.North Dakota |
39.Wyoming |
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15.New Mexico |
40.Rhode Island |
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16.Georgia |
41.New York |
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17.Michigan |
42.Idaho |
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18.Ohio |
43.Oregon |
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19.Kansas |
44.California |
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20.Missouri |
45.Montana |
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21.North Carolina |
46.Connecticut |
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22.Iowa |
47.Hawaii |
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23.Illinois |
48.Massachusetts |
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24.Nebraska |
49.New Jersey |
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24.Maine |
50.Colorado |
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51.Utah |
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References
- Kaila, B., & Raman, M. (2008). Obesity: A review of pathogenesis and management strategies. Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology, 22(1), 61–68.
- Levine, J. A. (2011). Poverty and Obesity in the U.S. Diabetes, 60(11), 2667–2668. http://doi.org/10.2337/db11-1118
- Adult Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC. (2016, September). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
- Bernardo, R. (2016, November 2). 2016’s Fattest States in America | WalletHub®. Retrieved from https://wallethub.com/edu/fattest-states/16585/
