Obesity, diabetes rates highest in South

ATLANTA, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Areas of the Southeast, Appalachia and some tribal lands in the West and Northern Plains have the highest U.S. rates of obesity and diabetes, officials say.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said Thursday that 81 percent of counties in the Appalachian region that includes Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia have high rates of diabetes and obesity. Three-quarters of counties in the southern region that includes Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina also have high rates of diabetes and obesity.

In many of these counties, the rates of diagnosed diabetes exceed 10 percent and obesity prevalence is more than 30 percent, the CDC estimated.

"Diabetes is costly in human and economic terms, and it's urgent that we take action to prevent and control this serious disease," Dr. Ann Albright, director of CDC's division of diabetes translation, said in a statement. "The study shows strong regional patterns of diabetes and can help focus prevention efforts where they are most needed."

The estimates were derived from the CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which uses self-reported data from state-based adult telephone surveys and 2007 census data.