Obesity in America

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