It’s not the pathogen it’s the HOSTS. I bet that Mississippi population is rife with metabolic disease and insulin resistance.
Mississippi leads the way with obesity.
These 10 States Have the Highest Rates of Obesity
Nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of obesity are in the South.
Obesity is not a new problem in the U.S., where more than 70% of adults are obese or overweight, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the coronavirus pandemic presents new challenges in combating the obesity epidemic, as physical inactivity, one of biggest risk factors of obesity, is on the rise in some cases.
People who struggle with obesity – having a body mass index of 30 or higher – are at greater risk for heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the United States, according to the CDC. But some states are worse off when it comes to obesity than others, according to a new
report by personal finance site WalletHub, which identifies rates of obesity in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
According to the report, nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of obesity are in the South.
Mississippi, which has the highest rates of obesity in both children and adults, also has the highest percent of physically inactive adults in 2020. The Magnolia State is also home to the highest percent of adults with high blood pressure, and the second-highest percent of adults with type 2 diabetes, according to the report.
On the other end of the spectrum, Colorado has the lowest rate of physical inactivity in adults, the lowest rate of obese adults and the second-lowest rate of obesity in children, behind Hawaii. The Centennial State boasts the lowest rate of adults with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, as well.
The report used data from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Gallup and the CDC, among others, to compare states and the District of Columbia across three dimensions: obesity and overweight prevalence, health consequences, and food and fitness, evaluated along 31 metrics.
Here are the states with the highest rates of obesity:
- Mississippi
- West Virginia
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Louisiana
- Oklahoma
- Alabama
- Michigan