Continuing on with this series on obesity, today I want to talk about obesity in the U.S., and what the trends tell us.
The last article talked about obesity around the world; now I will look at the country that has the dubious distinction of leading the world in obesity, the U.S.
And as I said in the first article in this series on obesity, being obese is a sure-fire path to living a High Density Lifestyle – it plays havoc on your health, and it stresses your body to no end.
So let’s look at the trends, from 1985 – 2008, courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control:
In 1985, a few states registered, 10-14% of the population as being obese, and other states registered less than 10% of the population as being obese.
As you can see, there was no data for many states in 1985, presumably because there wasn’t a large population base of obese people, so it wasn’t seen as something to have to keep tabs of.
In 1991, a few states reported less than 10% of the population as being obese, while the majority reported 10-14% obesity. Four states, Michigan, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi reported 15-19% of the population as being obese.
In 1998, things had progressed. Now there were no states reporting less than 10% obesity. The best numbers that a minority of states had were 10-14% obesity. Many states were now reporting 15-19% obesity, and a smattering of states were now registering 20-24% obesity rates.
A few years later, in 2003, numbers had increased again. Now no states were reporting 10-14% obesity rates. Only a few states had 15-19% obesity statistics, with the great majority at 20-24% obesity. A few states, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky and Indiana were now reporting 25-29% obesity numbers.
And now, the latest trends in 2008 show that numbers continue to increase. Only one state, Colorado, has obesity rates at 15-19%, most states are at 25-29%, and a few states are at 30% of the population being obese.
Below are the 2008 rates laid out in table format:
| 2008 State Obesity Rates | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | % | State | % | State | % | State | % |
| Alabama | 31.4 | Illinois | 26.4 | Montana | 23.9 | Rhode Island | 21.5 |
| Alaska | 26.1 | Indiana | 26.3 | Nebraska | 26.6 | South Carolina | 30.1 |
| Arizona | 24.8 | Iowa | 26.0 | Nevada | 25.0 | South Dakota | 27.5 |
| Arkansas | 28.7 | Kansas | 27.4 | New Hampshire | 24.0 | Tennessee | 30.6 |
| California | 23.7 | Kentucky | 29.8 | New Jersey | 22.9 | Texas | 28.3 |
| Colorado | 18.5 | Louisiana | 28.3 | New Mexico | 25.2 | Utah | 22.5 |
| Connecticut | 21.0 | Maine | 25.2 | New York | 24.4 | Vermont | 22.7 |
| Delaware | 27.0 | Maryland | 26.0 | North Carolina | 29.0 | Virginia | 25.0 |
| Washington DC | 21.8 | Massachusetts | 20.9 | North Dakota | 27.1 | Washington | 25.4 |
| Florida | 24.4 | Michigan | 28.9 | Ohio | 28.7 | West Virginia | 31.2 |
| Georgia | 27.3 | Minnesota | 24.3 | Oklahoma | 30.3 | Wisconsin | 25.4 |
| Hawaii | 22.6 | Mississippi | 32.8 | Oregon | 24.2 | Wyoming | 24.6 |
| Idaho | 24.5 | Missouri | 28.5 | Pennsylvania | 27.7 | ||
[…] talked about obesity around the world and in the U.S., and how statistics show that the obesity trends continue to […]