America continues to struggle with its weight. And then some.
Adult obesity rates rose sharply in half a dozen states last year, according to newly released data from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Their latest annual report on the subject, now called the State of Obesity (it used to be F as in Fat), shows that 20 states have adult obesity rates at or above 30 percent, 43 states have rates of at least 25 percent and every state is above 20 percent, with Colorado the trimmest at 21 percent.
As recently as 2007, only Mississippi, long America's chubbiest state, had an adult obesity rate above 30 percent; and in 1991 no state was above 20 percent. Though the rates of increase in obesity are slowing, no state has reversed theirs, the report notes. It also identifies six states -- Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming -- where the rates increased significantly last year.
As other studies have shown, obesity is increasing fastest among the poor and minorities. All but one of the states in the ranking of the ten most obese is a Southern state.
Southerners have some of the most limited access to healthy food among all Americans and the least means to buy it; they also have the least opportunities to exercise outdoors, and the heat discourages them from doing so.
America's Fattest States
America's Fattest States (And D.C.)
All data latest (full year 2013). Source: The State of Obesity. Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
51. Colorado
Adult Obesity Rate: 21.3 percent
50. Hawaii
Adult Obesity Rate: 21.8 percent
49. Washington D.C.
Adult Obesity Rate: 22.9 percent
48. Massachusetts
Adult Obesity Rate: 23.6 percent
46. (tie) California
Adult Obesity Rate: 24.1 percent
46. (tie) Utah
Adult Obesity Rate: 24.1 percent
45. Montana
Adult Obesity Rate: 24.6 percent
44. Vermont
Adult Obesity Rate: 24.7 percent
43. Connecticut
Adult Obesity Rate: 25 percent
42. New York
Adult Obesity Rate: 25.4 percent
41. Minnesota
Adult Obesity Rate: 25.5 percent
40. Nevada
Adult Obesity Rate: 26.2 percent
39. New Jersey
Adult Obesity Rate: 26.3 percent
37. (tie) Florida
Adult Obesity Rate: 26.4 percent
37. (tie) New Mexico
Adult Obesity Rate: 26.4 percent
36. Oregon
Adult Obesity Rate: 26.5 percent
35. New Hampshire
Adult Obesity Rate: 26.7 percent
34. Arizona
Adult Obesity Rate: 26.8 percent
32. (tie) Virginia
Adult Obesity Rate: 27.2 percent
32. (tie) Washington
Adult Obesity Rate: 27.2 percent
31. Indiana
Adult Obesity Rate: 27.3 percent
30. Wyoming
Adult Obesity Rate: 27.8 percent
29. Maryland
Adult Obesity Rate: 28.3 percent
28. Alaska
Adult Obesity Rate: 28.4 percent
27. Maine
Adult Obesity Rate: 28.9 percent
25. (tie) Illinois
Adult Obesity Rate: 29.4 percent
25. (tie) North Carolina
Adult Obesity Rate: 29.4 percent
23. (tie) Idaho
Adult Obesity Rate: 29.6 percent
23. (tie) Nebraska
Adult Obesity Rate: 29.6 percent
22. Wisconsin
Adult Obesity Rate: 29.8 percent
21. South Dakota
Adult Obesity Rate: 29.9 percent
18. (tie) Kansas
Adult Obesity Rate: 30 percent
18. (tie) Pennsylvania
Adult Obesity Rate: 30 percent
18. (tie) Georgia
Adult Obesity Rate: 30.3 percent
16. (tie) Missouri
Adult Obesity Rate: 30.4 percent
16. (tie) Ohio
Adult Obesity Rate: 30.4 percent
15. Texas
Adult Obesity Rate: 30.9 percent
14. North Dakota
Adult Obesity Rate: 31 percent
13. Delaware
Adult Obesity Rate: 31.1 percent
12. Iowa
Adult Obesity Rate: 31.3 percent
11. Michigan
Adult Obesity Rate: 31.5 percent
10. South Carolina
Adult Obesity Rate: 31.7 percent
9. Indiana
Adult Obesity Rate: 31.8 percent
8. Alabama
Adult Obesity Rate: 32.4 percent
7. Oklahoma
Adult Obesity Rate: 32.5 percent
6. Louisiana
Adult Obesity Rate: 33.1 percent
5. Kentucky
Adult Obesity Rate: 33.2 percent
4. Tennessee
Adult Obesity Rate: 33.7 percent
3. Arkansas
Adult Obesity Rate: 34.6 percent
1. (tie) Mississippi
Adult Obesity Rate: 35.1 percent
1. (tie) West Virginia
Adult Obesity Rate: 35.1 percent
A consequence is that those states also rank highly in the nation for obesity related diseases such as hypertension and diabetes (you can see those rankings for the 10 most obese states on our accompanying slideshow), and for heart disease, arthritis and and obesity-related cancers.
Obesity-related illness cost the U.S. upwards of an estimated $190 billion in annual health care costs, double 1998's level, and accounts for one in every five dollars Americans spend on health care. Childhood obesity accounts for 10 percent of that number.
Good diet and regular exercise are the basis of any weight-loss program regardless of where you start from — healthy habits to learn young (childhood obesity accounts for more than 7 percent of that estimated $190 billion, although the good news for the long-term, according to the report, is that childhood obesity rates are stabilizing and in some states falling for children from poor families).
We have laid out one simple exercise program that anyone from teenager to senior or any age in between and of any weight can do at home. It doesn't require special equipment and it isn't a boot camp. It is designed to bring you up gradually to a healthy level of fitness and take off the pounds with a daily 12-minute routine (see: How a Half-Century-Old Exercise Plan and 12 Minutes a Day Could Make You Your Fittest Yet; we have easy to follow instructions for each exercise and day-by-day goals).
We also have tips on how to lose the last 10 pounds, how to build exercise seamlessly into your daily routine by moving more at work, and some no-nonsense weigh loss advice from Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt. You can always find more tips, advice and support in our Fitness channel.
For more inspiration read this tale of how a self-described “fat bloke” got off his couch and ran into the record books. Steve Way lost 70 pounds over three years by stopping smoking, eating better, and, as he puts it, “getting off my backside."
