obesity in america

OBESITY IN AMERICA

from sun uk co news article on obesity in the us

those brits they are honest folks
they tell it like it is

in the us there are parts where the obesity rate approaches 40%
i lived in one of them arkansas #3 37.1%
i lived in another one in the next highest rates texas #10 34.8%
now i live in one of the lower ones california #47 25.8%

the two worst are west virginia and mississippi tied at #1

the three best are hawaii  #49 washington dc #50 colorado #51
why i wonder is washington dc so less obese when there are so many fat cats living there

for those interested in your states here is the paragraph from this linked article from silive.com with each states ranks and their percentage of obesity

State-by-state rates of adult obesity (highest to lowest)

Tie: Mississippi and West Virginia (39.5%), 3. Arkansas (37.1%), 4. Louisiana (36.8%), 5. Kentucky (36.6%), 6. Alabama (36.2%), 7. Iowa (35.3%), 8. North Dakota (35.1%), 9. Missouri, (35.0%), 10. -Tie: Oklahoma and Texas (34.8%), 12. - Tie: Kansas and Tennessee (34.4%), 14. South Carolina (34.3%), 15. -Tie: Indiana and Nebraska (34.1%), 17. Ohio (34.0%), 18. Delaware (33.5%), 19 -Tie: Michigan, North Carolina (33.0%), 21. Georgia (32.5%), 22. New Mexico (32.3%), 23. Wisconsin (32.0%), 24. Illinois (31.8%), 25. -Tie: Maryland and Pennsylvania (30.9%), 27. Florida (30.7%), 28 -Tie: Maine and Virginia (30.4%), 30.Tie: Minnesota and South Dakota (30.1%), 32. Oregon (29.9%), 33. New Hampshire (29.6%), 34. Three-way Tie: Alaska, Arizona and Nevada (29.5%), 37. Wyoming (29.0%), 38. Washington (28.7%), 39. Idaho (28.4%), 40. Utah (27.8%), 41. Rhode Island (27.7%), 42. New York (27.6%), 43. Vermont (27.5%), 44. Connecticut (27.4%),45. Montana (26.9%), 46. California (25.8%), 47. -Tie: Massachusetts and New Jersey (25.7%), 49. Hawaii (24.9%), 50. District of Columbia (24.7%), 51. Colorado (23.0%).

obesity is defined as a bmi of over 30
overweight is a bmi of 25-29
normal weight is a bmi of less than 25

you can calculate your bmi body max index by clicking on this bmi calculator from the nih
my bmi calculates at 25.1
or
bmi equals weight in lbs divided by height in inches squared then multiply by 703
eg for me
190 lbs divided by 73 squared then x 703 equals a bmi of 25.1

there are tables that adjust for age and sex also
but these above give you a rough idea

so im close to the edge on the being overweight but i may be 74 inches instead of 73 inches which makes my bmi slightly lower
i figured since im older i have lost an inch of height

why is this so important

folks who are obese dont live as long

they get more type 2 diabetes which means increased risk of stroke heart attacks blindness alzheimers kidney failure early death

even if they dont get diabetes they get more strokes heart attacks alzheimers and cancers
they also especially females get more worn out knees
they get chronic back pain
they have more sleep apnea
they cant or dont exercise as much
they die younger

if you have ever done surgery or seen an autopsy on an obese person its impressive the amount of fat that surrounds the major organs of the body and covering over the intestines

another reason that this is important is its costing our healthcare system a lot of money to care for this increase in obesity
folks especially in those dark red and red areas are now dying younger than before
we as taxpayers are paying for the health care of over 50 % of these obese folks
obese folks are also sometimes on disability early

one thing ive noticed since living here in santa barbara and central california is that you dont see as much obesity as in texas and arkansas when i go visit there
this is consistent with the percentages in these states listed above

one good stat from these articles is that the age group 18-24 has the lowest obesity rates of any age group so maybe they are getting the message

i feel sorry for west virginia with its high obesity rate and it gets combined with it high opioid overdose and death rate from opioids

then
there is poor thank god for mississippi

then
there is colorado
why are they low
could it be they are a green state
could it be that so many folks that live there do outside stuff all the time
maybe thats why the west is low in the obesity rate categories

whatever colorado is doing the rest of us need to be doing it
we will live longer and feel better

the organicgreen doctor