Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Mississippi the fattest U.S. state, again

|
|
 
  
Actress Caitlin Van Zandt (L) participates in the "Walk from Obesity" on the National Mall in Washington on June 17, 2008. (UPI Photo/Alexis C. Glenn) 
License photo
Published: July 1, 2009 at 3:06 PM

WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- Mississippi, for the fifth straight year, had the highest U.S. rate of adult obesity at 32.5 percent, officials of two non-profit groups said.

"F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009," a report released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said that following Mississippi, West Virginia had 31.2 percent obese adults, Alabama was at 31.1 percent and Tennessee at 30.2 percent.

In addition, the percentage of obese and overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states.

"Our healthcare costs have grown along with our waist lines," Jeff Levi, executive director of TFAH, said in a statement. "The obesity epidemic is a big contributor to the skyrocketing healthcare costs in the United States."

Colorado had the lowest percentage of obese adults at 18.9 percent, followed by: Massachusetts at 21.2 percent, Connecticut at 21.3 percent, Rhode Island at 21.7 percent and Hawaii at 21.8 percent.

Mississippi also had the highest rate of obese and overweight children ages 10-17 at 44.4 percent. Eight of the 10 states with the highest rates of obese and overweight children are in the South. Minnesota and Utah had the lowest rate of obese and overweight children at 23.1 percent.

Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980, the report said.

Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Health News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Daily Show writer partners with Slate to crowdsource ideas for amending and rewriting the Constitution....
Canada's national archives is being dismantled and scattered, who needs to remember the history...
Man disappears in Niagara Falls whirlpool; presumed to be spinning in his grave
Woman swallows toothbrush while brushing her teeth. Surgeons remove it before Oral B becomes Anal...
MSNBC Host Chris Hayes: I'm 'Uncomfortable' calling fallen military 'Heroes'
What do you REALLY know about the Queen?