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.

[keithle1]

Lots of black women love to eat & most of what they eat is junk & high in fat/salt. Eating too much food is their hobby. It gives them pleasure.

You would think the sight of themselves in the mirror would make them take off the feed bag but it doesn''t. They just keep getting bigger. And of course they''re the ones that like to wear shorts to show off their flab & cellulite. You don''t want them sitting next to you on the airplane.

I hear some men are "chubby chasers." Not me. You can have the fatties.

[harpoot]

The food is great in the south. Fried catfish along with hush puppies and a pitcher of ice cold beer is good eatin''.

[tootall10142]

magoo2u must be a black obese person who loves kfc and has no defense against being fat and lazy .probably waiting on welfare cash card so she or he can get the special of the day. buc-buc-bacaw!got to have gravy with them taters and three biscuits and a DIET soda.

[magoo2u1]

"i sat in tupelo one day and counted 57 obese women enter and leave a k.f.c."

Why don''t you go jogging or just worry about yourself?
Who watches you?

[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..........

do you think the callers reached the active folks out jogging, riding bikes and playing ball or maybe the couch ''taters sitting by the phone.

[tootall10142]

One of the main reasons the women of the south mostly black are obese is that they run to k.f.c. every time the door swings.i sat in tupelo one day and counted 57 obese women enter and leave a k.f.c. rest. in the time it took to change oil in a small truck.down the street mcdonalds was bomming at 9am in the morning mostly black women and thier soon to be too fat children. you might think im be racial here but, i counted more white women than black.the next time you want to *** about the tobacco industry just take a ride to fast food rest and count the people that are not only adding a shorter time span to thier own lives but thier childrens also.

[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..........

[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..........

[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.

[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.

[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??

[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.

[dmhphils]

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


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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....

[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.

[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!

[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!

[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.

[normsw]

Bring on the fried chicken and biscuits and gravy!!

[ubrew12]

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

[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
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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!