By Phil Rainier
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - New obesity stats are out. They show Mississippi and Louisiana top the list of most overweight states in the country. Mississippi is No. 1 and Louisiana is No. 2. Arkansas ranks 7th, and Texas is tied with Kentucky at No. 10.
In all, there are 12 states where 30% or more of the adult population qualify as dangerously overweight. With the exception of Michigan and Indiana, the South can claim all top ten spots in the country's list of most obese states.
A new analysis released by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The analysis used the state obesity rates released made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Researchers say the new CDC numbers show the country isn't doing anywhere near what it should to battle the obesity epidemic.
In 2006, obesity-related medical costs totaled $147 billion a year, or nearly 10 percent of total medical spending, according to a 2011 study in Health Affairs. The bulk of the spending is generated from treating obesity-related diseases, such as diabetes.
Here are the top 20 obesity rates by state from highest to lowest:
- 1. Mississippi (34.9%)
- 2. Louisiana (33.4%)
- 3. West Virginia (32.4%)
- 4. Alabama (32.0%)
- 5. Michigan (31.3%)
- 6. Oklahoma (31.1%)
- 7. Arkansas (30.9%)
- 8. (tie) Indiana (30.8%); and South Carolina (30.8%)
- 10. (tie) Kentucky (30.4%); and Texas (30.4%)
- 12. Missouri (30.3%)
- 13. (tie) Kansas (29.6%); and Ohio (29.6%)
- 15. (tie) Tennessee (29.2%); and Virginia (29.2%)
- 17. North Carolina (29.1%)
- 18. Iowa (29.0%)
- 19. Delaware (28.8%)
- 20. Pennsylvania (28.6%)
To learn more, go to http://healthyamericans.org/report/98/obseityratesbystate
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