Fattest states in America

(Vladaar Malane) #1

I wonder why or if location actually matters? It would seem more likely to just be chance, as people move from state to state and what not. Maybe your average income and education levels do affect it.

(Carl Keller) #2

My state, Pennsylvania, is number 25. Mediocrity is our state song…

In the South, the drink of choice is sweet tea. It’s also much hotter and more humid in the South, so I imagine they have greater parts of the day when people stay in their house, get blasted by AC and snack a lot.

(Sheri Knauer) #3

I definitely think it has more to do with socioeconomic status than anything else. Those states with the lowest annual income tend to have the highest rates of obesity because they can afford to only buy the cheap, processed crappy food.

(John) #4

Nice. So between the state I live in, and the state I work in, both are in the top 5!

(Carl Keller) #5

This absolutely holds true in the South, but New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and Montana are some of the poorest states yet their obsesity ranks are quite good.

(Running from stupidity) #6

WalletHub on Tuesday released its ranking of the fattest states in America (Right before the holidays! Seriously?)

Well, when would be a BETTER time, idiot pretend journalist?

(Doug) #7

Definitely, Vladaar. West Virginia is #2 on that list, and that’s where my employer is headquartered. I have a local doctor, there, and we’ve talked about this very issue - it’s a broad mix of cheap carbohydrates and ‘fast food’ being available, family and cultural influences, and lower-than-average socio-economic status for most people, etc.

It’s really a “southern” state in the U.S., despite being only 85 miles/137 km from Lake Erie, with the Great Lakes forming the northern border of the U.S. to some extent. If there is a harmful aspect to ‘southern
cooking’ in the U.S., I think it’s the tendency to have lots of carbs and lots of fats in a meal.

The “respect for authority” thing as it applies tro doctors is strong, here, and I suspect that West Virginia will be among the last state to really get aware of the ‘new’ keto thing and as it applies to obesity, diabates, etc.

(Running from stupidity) #8

Whoa. My knowledge of the US is (I think) pretty decent, but I had no idea that WV was that far north. I’ve always had it categorised as part of “The South”, as you say.

My favourite, though, is Ohio being “mid-west.” Say what?

(Doug) #9

(And for that matter - you can go halfway down in Ohio (‘Northern’ border of the U.S.) and practically think you are in Mississippi or Arkansas or Tennessee or Alabama… :smile:)

Mic, most of my life has been in Ohio - and yeah, the American “Midwest” as a whole is drastically off-balance toward the east. Way back when (the U.S. was very young) - the “Northwest Territory” was Ohio and everything to the west and northwest - which at the time only meant as far west as the Mississippi River, which is now mostly about 2/3 of the way from west to east in the present country. It’s rather like saying the midpoint of the Australian continent is the border between South Australia and New South Wales.

Midwest1

So there’s what Wikipedia has. For sure - Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. (And really - the western part of Pennsylvania - to the east of Ohio, certainly is “The Midwest” in the USA in many ways. Likewise, the ‘overlap’ between states means that Kentucky, and even, perhaps, West Virginia, could be said to be “midwestern” in some ways.) Then we go west of the Mississippi River, and despite that river’s more eastward disposition in the continent, I think things get dicier.

Minnesota? Maybe so, but it’s practically a special case. Yes, it’s similar to Wisconsin in some ways, but also to the Dakotas and points farther west.

North Dakota and South Dakota - I say no. This is the northern plains, part of the “Great Plains,” whereas IL, IN and OH are part of the ‘Central Plains.’

Kansas - no way. Kansas identifies more with Oklahoma and Colorado, to the south and west, than it does with the Midwestern U.S.

Iowa - yes. Farm country. Corn fields, just like rural Illinois. (And same ******* clowns driving so slow in the fast lane, just like rural Illinois.:rage:)

Missouri. Yes… Maybe. Though they try and act like western ‘cowboys’ with the hats and all, but c’mon, man… :smile:

Nebraska. Maybe… Not far from Iowa in a lot of ways, but it’s a big state… Um… Yeah, okay (barely).

So here is how I see it:

Midwest3
Midwest3.png900×400 55.5 KB

(Daisy) #10

My state is number 2. Not surprising in the least.

(Daisy) #11

Agreed. When I try to talk to people here in WV about keto, I’m generally met with blank stares, snide remarks or “I can’t possibly give up (insert carbage of choice here)”

(Doug) #12

Daisy, I hear you - everything is deeply entrenched. Still, a few people have asked me how I lost so much weight (so fast) - and I tell them, making allowances for what I figure is their tolerance level. The thought of giving up all the carby treats is huge for many people. The hormonal basis for weight gain and insulin resistance - this does get through to some.

(Running from stupidity) #13

That was the only thing I could figure was the case - historical bias, basically.

Thanks for an awesome and education post, much appreciated.

(Doug) #14

Thanks, Mic. I would love to sit down and talk with you some time. Our guts and sides would be aching the next day - from all the laughter - I figure. :slightly_smiling_face:

(Running from stupidity) #15

Of that there is no doubt :slight_smile:

(Jane) #16

I hear ya. I live in #3 and work in #10 quite a bit.

No surprise Arkansas is #3. You can hardly get a shopping cart up and down the aisles due to all the obese people in motorized carts. It seems everyone here is obese or meth-head rail thin.

Not so 100 years ago. Pictures of locals in the early to mid 1900’s were all normal size. Before processed and fast foods and seed oils hit the market.

(Jane) #17

Colorado at #51 is no surprise, either. Traveling there to some of the nicer cities remind me of European cities minus the trains.

#18

I wonder how much these rankings are affected by population density?

One thing is for sure, there’s a lot of obese people in this country!