Southern States Remain Country's Fattest

Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee Have Highest Obesity Rates While Colorado Is The Slimmest

(AP)  Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee lead the nation when it comes to obesity, a new government survey reported Thursday.

More than 30 percent of adults in each of the states tipped the scales enough to ensure the South remains the nation's fattest region.

Colorado was the least obese, with about 19 percent fitting that category in a random telephone survey last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 2007 findings are similar to results from the same survey the three previous years. Mississippi has had the highest obesity rate every year since 2004. But Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana have also clustered near the top of the list, often so close that the difference between their rates and Mississippi's may not be statistically significant.

Why is the South so heavy? The traditional Southern diet - high in fat and fried food - may be part of the answer, said Dr. William Dietz, who heads CDC's nutrition, physical activity and obesity division.

The South also has a large concentration of rural residents and black women - two groups that tend to have higher obesity rates, he said.

Colorado, meanwhile, is a state with a reputation for exercise. It has plentiful biking and hiking trails, and an elevation that causes the body to labor a bit more, Dietz said.

Obesity is based on the body mass index, a calculation using height and weight. A 5-foot, 9-inch adult who weighs 203 pounds would have a BMI of 30, which is considered the threshold for obesity.

CDC officials believe the telephone survey of 350,000 adults offers conservative estimates of obesity rates, because it's based on what respondents said about their height and weight. Men commonly overstate their height and women often lowball their weight, health experts say.

"The heavier you are, the more you underestimate your weight, probably because you don't weigh yourself as often," Dietz said.

Overall, about 26 percent of the respondents were obese, according to the study, published this week in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

A different CDC survey - a gold-standard project in which researchers actually weigh and measure survey respondents - put the adult obesity rate at 34 percent in 2005 and 2006, the most recent years for which there are data.

[rushman71]

Hey, what do you expect? It''s too danm hot to go out for a walk.....to the end of the driveway!!!

[punchline3]

The good news is they have fewer people who suffer from anorexia.

[talkingham]

Interesting they run this story instead of the research on high fat/low carb diets versus the heart association suggested low fat/high grain/high carb study released in the New England Journal of Medicine today.

That detailed 2-year study of diets, the largest study of its kind, shows that high fat, high cholestero/low carb diets completely outperform the heart association supported low fat diets, nearly doubling the weight lost and reducing bad cholesterol far better than the low fat diet.

Of course all those doctors suggesting low fat diets and pushing blood thinners and statins don''t make much money on a diet where you don''t need to take their cholesterol reducing medications nor does the edible oils industry which has been a primary force against natural animal based fats and has promoted the now dispproved theory that eating good meats, eggs and butter causes heart disease. Most people don''t realize just how quickly most vegetable oils go rancid since the way they are produced there are virtually no natural preservatives in the oils to keep them stable. Meanwhile nutritionists keep telling you to consume these highly unnatural poly-unsaturated oils which go so readily rancid.

[bobnjersey]

[Obesity is based on the body mass index, a calculation using height and weight. A 5-foot, 9-inch adult who weighs 203 pounds would have a BMI of 30, which is considered the threshold for obesity. ]

bmi? this is questionable. a 5-foot, 9-inch male in great condition (good muscular development) could have a body weight of 200 lbs and not be obese.

[kevboom]

Try living around all this fried chicken, calabash fish, barbeque, sausage, pork chops, country ham, butter-soaked veggies, cornbread, biscuits, hush puppies, fried tomatoes, cheese grits, peanuts, pralines, moon pies, pecan pies, lime pies, and see how thin you are CBS! Now I need to go eat! Thanks!

[meanbiker]

No kidding.. Southerners are fatter.. I''ll bet is cost a pretty penny to find that out..and here I would of told ya that for $3.59 (price of a pack of smokes)

Ya want to know why they are so fat in the south? Collard greens, turnips, fried okra, crayfish and Shine...

[libsluv2spit]

all this uproar about rising food prices..it is not a question of starving to death (there are a lot of cheap inexpensive source of body fuel) but more of EATING LESS..and it scares the living daylights out of certain people..

[vnveteran72]

Not much excercise in waddling from Air Conditioned House to SUV to Wide-Load Mobility Chair in Air Conditioned Meglo Mart and back again, loaded down with cases of Ding-Dongs and Ho-Ho''s......

[nssherlock1]

Soooooo, there is a fortune to be made in Diet Moonpies?

[yankeerebel7]

haha this is true. It''s because their food is high in fat, but *** good I must say. Also, the heat and humidity play a factor.

But America as a whole is FAT...there''s just a 10% difference between the fattest states and "fittest" states. Come on America, we can do better than this.

[condumbism]

Southern condumbs not only the fattest, but the dumbest.

Dats why everybody call dem po white trash.

[runningralph]

What happened to the scheme that was being talked about a while back where they were going to liposuction all the obese people and make biofuel out of the fat? Maybe if all those fatsos went on a diet food prices would drop. I have some good advice. Apply for a job in a salt mine in Chad and you''ll come back after a year slim and trim.

[kennergirl]

Southerners are so dumb.... yak yak yak. YAWN.

Can''t you do any better than that?

Maybe your narrow-minded brain can''t think of anything else. Figures.

[irliberal]

Southern States Remain Country''s Fattest

Oooo there''s a shocker.

Tomorrow''s headlines...

"Dust found on Mars!"
"Smoking Causes Cancer"
"GW Bush and Cabinet Prosecuted For War Crimes At the Hague"

[daysrnumbrd]

Come on America, we can do better than this.

Posted by yankeerebel7 at 06:02 PM : Jul 17, 2008
............

There''s three things the powerful elite do not want the masses to be:

1. Healthy/fit
2. Well educated
3. Well motivated...

...to make the changes needed to regain a well functioning government that our founding fathers originally created.

[kansas1946]

Fat, uneducated, and voting Republican. I bet if they started voting for Democrats, they would lose weight. :o)

[whiskyrocker]

There are people grossly overwieght everywhere in this country.

[smirk5]

I love happy news like this. Makes my day.

[smirk5]

And people laughed when I sent that case of pork rinds to help Florida Hurricane victims a few years ago.

[wardoglrs]

Isnt that Huks territory....No wonder he was running...

[cat54mom]

...Yet their waist-line measurements still surpass their IQ!

Posted by DaysRnumbrd at 05:54 PM : Jul 17, 2008
-------
So, there are no fat Northerners (aka Yankees)?

Your enlightened comment makes me wonder how high your IQ is. Or maybe you''re just a bigot.

[u243379]

Who wants a 6 pack when You can have a keg??

[formrusmcsgt]

"The heavier you are, the more you underestimate your weight, probably because you don''t weigh yourself as often," Dietz said.
---

Or they don''t want to admit to packing around a two-year supply of calories instead of one....

[formrusmcsgt]

There are people grossly overwieght everywhere in this country.

Posted by whiskyrocker at 07:09 PM : Jul 17, 2008

There is no shortage of lard-a$$es, that''s for sure.

Have these people no pride?

Do they seriously think that they are appealing to their mate with all that lard stored all over their body?

[sociald63]

when these fat ones die - does the funeral service charge them twice as much ??

[pagirl8]

Hey runningralph--just wanted to let you know that because of the auto industry in the South, there are MANY Asians living here. Also--as someone who was raised in the North and is now living in the South I can honestly say that there are LOTS of obese AND dumb people living in thr North,too.

[mycomment-2009]

Fat, uneducated, and voting Republican. I bet if they started voting for Democrats, they would lose weight. :o)
Posted by kansas1946 at 07:01 PM : Jul 17, 2008

Maybe if you ate a doughnut and raised your blood sugar enough to wake up from your coma...you might realize what a dumb a** you''ve been and vote republican.

[rob416]

Here it comes attacks on each other from different parts of the Nation. Well I''m from the North and now live in the South and can honestly say there is a real problem with obesity. The reasons are obvious to me as the CDC stated. To much fried foods, cooking in grease, eating unhealth foods and lots of sugar. I must admit I have a hard time finding healthy food choices in the supermarkets here.

In spite of all of that, I do not see where it is necessary to attack overweight indivduals based on what region of the Nation they are from. Some people on this forum need to grow up.

[mycomment-2009]

I must admit I have a hard time finding healthy food choices in the supermarkets here.
Posted by rob416 at 10:02 PM : Jul 17, 2008

Say what? The stores you shop at don''t have fresh fruits and vegtables? No lean meats? No fish? No whole grain bread? No low fat dairy products? Where are you shopping at....McDonalds?

[yankeerebel7]

What sounds more appetizing...a traditional Southern meal or a traditional Northern meal? But still, this is sad. America''s fatness is sickening...especially when I see little fat kids, that''s the worse. Terrible parenting.

[irliberal]

Maybe if you ate a doughnut and raised your blood sugar enough to wake up from your coma...you might realize what a dumb a** you''''ve been and vote republican.

Posted by Mycomment at 09:42 PM

Is that your strategy? LOL!! Have another doughnut there tubby. You''re funny!

[bm6005]

Please keep the arguing going. I haven''t laughed this hard since Boosh II announced his candidacy!!!

[mycomment-2009]

Is that your strategy? LOL!! Have another doughnut there tubby. You''''re funny!
Posted by IRLiberal at 10:45 PM : Jul 17, 2008

I guess you have too much fat between your ears to understand sarcasm.

[nssherlock1]

With home heating costs this winter, a lot of Northerners may want to move in with those fat Southerners in a few months.

[sistatee-2009]

It''s them-thar grits is doin'' it.

[irliberal]

With home heating costs this winter, a lot of Northerners may want to move in with those fat Southerners in a few months.

Posted by nsSherlock1 at 10:56 PM

Pellet stove. Already purchased the pellets. Don''t need anything else.

So the fat southerners will have to find some other rube to squeeze. 8-)

[ubrew12]

dmw1167 said: "I have gone through Brooklyn...it looked like a landfill of trash and drunks actually laying in the gutters"
Your typical Red State gets three times as much money from the Federal government (per tax dollar sent to the Feds) as your typical Blue State. This dearth of funding has REAL consequences in poor urban areas.

My opinion: Southerners are infected with ''Red-State'' disease. They''ll encourage you to work hard, eat frugally, don''t question or enjoy your government (cuz thats whining), and pray. Meanwhile, they''ll be on the sofa eating corn dogs and watching Dr. Phil. Uncle Sam''s been generous to them and, it turns out, they consider giving advice to be THEIR job.

[stn_sage]

My opinion: Southerners are infected with ''''Red-State'''' disease. They''''ll encourage you to work hard, eat frugally, don''''t question or enjoy your government (cuz thats whining), and pray. Meanwhile, they''''ll be on the sofa eating corn dogs and watching Dr. Phil. Uncle Sam''''s been generous to them and, it turns out, they consider giving advice to be THEIR job.

Posted by ubrew12 at 11:45 PM : Jul 17, 2008
-------------------------------------
My response:
I lived in the south for over a year.
Based on what I observed, your description is pretty accurate! Are you sure you haven''t lived in the south at some time!?
But, I also want to say, I met some very nice people there! And, I want to make that clear, too!

[ubrew12]

stn_sage said: "I met some very nice people there! And, I want to make that clear, too! " Oh, I''m just talking.

[normsw]

Bring on the fried chicken and biscuits and gravy!!

[jbaker314]

We should give this "survey" the credibility it deserves (i.e., "none"). Note that this is a survey, not a scientific study. It is based solely upon questions answered over a telephone, with no independent verification of the data provided.

[spaspy]

Fat, uneducated, and voting Republican. I bet if they started voting for Democrats, they would lose weight. :o)
Posted by kansas1946 at 07:01 PM : Jul 17, 2008

Uh....duh you idiot, because the dems would tax the people into starvation!!! Go to bed!

[daysrnumbrd]

Colorado is the "slimmest".

Well, at 5,000+ feet, if you were obese... you''d get winded just getting out of bed at that altitude!

[heero78-2009]

"Try living around all this fried chicken, calabash fish, barbeque, sausage, pork chops, country ham, butter-soaked veggies, cornbread, biscuits, hush puppies, fried tomatoes, cheese grits, peanuts, pralines, moon pies, pecan pies, lime pies, and see how thin you are CBS! Now I need to go eat! Thanks!"



And that''s just breakfast.

[dmhphils]

It''''s them-thar grits is doin'''' it.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by SistaTee at 10:57 PM : Jul 17, 2008

Well, yeh, it''s the grits......and sausage, bisquits, gravy, country ham, hash browns....and ohhhh the cobblers.....blackberry is my favorite.....and what the hell is wrong with being fat........oh......cause we live in an imaginary slim world where everybody has the "perfect" body......only on tv and the movies dorks......ain''t happening in real life. So stoke up on the southern grub while you can....

[freeteddy]

This is hilarious, the genius of some of these posters. You don''t have the balls to come out from behind your computers to run your mouths but you sure will smack your gums when there are no consequences. At least it''s entertaining. And it strikes me as funny that most places in the south are growing at unprecedented rates while the major centers in the north are stagnating and your populations are moving south. must be that "suthern fried cukin". Guarantee most of the ones taking part in these telephone surveys are transplants. They''re the only ones dumb enough to actually stay on the phone.

[blade28515]

A telephone survey!?! How lazy is that?? And who believes what somebody tells you over the phone?? 5''9" and 203 pounds overweight? Maybe....depends on whether you''ve reached a teenaged girl or a college football player. I''m 6''0" and weigh 200 lbs. Am I fat? How can you tell without seeing me to see if that is a toned 200 or all belly and flab??

[drinuk]

Them folks down there obviously love their Corn Syrup and Aspartame, not to mention the handful of sweeteners in their coffee and the gallon of Diet cola a day.

The next survey will concern the number suffering from MS, Cancer, Diabetes, Parkinson''s, Dead Liver and anything else you can think of.

Then we have Genetically Modified Corn, Wheat, Rape Seed and Tomatoes to consider. Not sure whether it is Mass Suicide or Population Control, take your pick.

Whatever the answer, Big Pharma, Big Chemical and the Undertakers are having a field day.

[honestabe8]

drinuk: it''s suicide on the installment plan. i agree that big pharm and big chem is benefitting immensely.

noseonsurface: i don''t know that it is about having "the perfect body" (which most of us, including me, don''t have the gumption to pursue) as much as it is about being relatively fit.

[magoo2u1]

WOW. An unanticipated result of people moving from the North to the South. You guys are gonna tip the country over if you don''t sit still. Is there anyone left in
Cleveland, Flint or any of the "rust belt". We were ok with you folks "coming on down" but you might push back from the table a little bit............

The waters aren''t rising- Florida is sinking from the weight..........