Obesity rates per state in america

[TroutFishingBear]

20% of american people are obese

The top 10 states for obesity rates (most obese people) are:
1.Alabama (28.4%)
2.Mississippi 28.1%
3.West Virginia 27.7%
4.Indiana 26%
5.Kentucky 25.6% (probably because of fried chicken)
6.Arkansas 25.2%
7.Georgia 25.2%
8.Michigan 25.2%
9.Tennessee 25.0%
10.Ohio 24.9%
The top 10 states for least obesity rates (least obese people) are:
1.Colorado 16%
2.Hawaii 16.4%
3.Massachusetts 16.8%
4Rhode Island 18.4%
5Montana 18.8%
6.Connecticut 19.0%
7.Vermont 19.6%
8.Maine 19.9%
9.Florida 19.9%
10. Arizona, New Jersey, Wyoming (20.1% for all three)

Better watch your diets!!!

[reubenpa]

same weight for 5 years and within 5 lbs of my weight for 7.....  WHAT DIET!!!!!!!!!!!!!   200 lbs yea, but at 6-3 that isn't a problem!!! And I eat like a hog most of the time, but I can slow down my eating when need be, and I have at times

[rgfixit]

TFB,
 I recently started a job as Facilities Manager for a very large athletic club. I've lost 11 lbs  already and haven't  even started working out yet. The place is the black hole of fat...you lose weight just being there.

Reuben,
I love your new avitar
RG

[billditrite]

looks like us new englanders are doing well!!ill second the avatar reub thats a great pic!!cute little guy...must look like his mom!!

[reubenpa]

actually the poor kid looks like me, I used to be cute didn't know looks could change so badly don't you pity that poor boy?

[fozsey]

My state never made the good or the bad...

Is that good? Or is that bad? 

I believe a few things attribute to this statistic that I didn't have when I was a kid. First of all, I hardly ever watched TV. That included video games. I was outside for the better part of my childhood running around causing all sorts of trouble for my neighbors. They loved me though. I was adorable..

The second thing that IMHO has attributed to this is what you are reading this on. I never had a computer when I was a kid. My kids have 3 of them and I have 2. This means more @$$ to seat time and less exercise. My kids would rather sit in front of a video game or computer than go outside and work with me. Dad doesn't approve and I have to force them to go outside. They want to sit after eating and I want to go out and split a few logs or clean the garage or mow or something, anything just to not sit. I still can't sit in front of a TV for more than 10 or 15 minutes unless its watching a football, baseball, or basketball game and that is rare. TV is a sleeping pill for me. 10 minutes and...

 

The third thing and I think by far the biggest contributer to this problem is the quality of the food that we eat today. Mc Donalds does not sell food. Its garbage complete with its own bag. Even I am guilty of stopping to eat a gargage burger at times instead of making my own meal, but if I am home I cook. All the exercise in the world won't fix a steady diet of garbage food. When I was growing up I only got to go to the big "M" when we were traveling. Otherwise it was home cooked food. I hated it. I thought my moms food was awful. Today, I think my mom made the greatest food known to man and I will elect to eat there whenever I can.

We rarely had "tater chips" and Cheeto's, Frito's, tater skins, Dorita's, and the like were unheard of. I didn't know what a Cheeto was until I was 20. We had Coke, but that was severely rationed.

BTW, Cheeto's are one of my all time favorite snack foods, but I don't buy them very often.

I think the fast food industry bears some fo the responsibility for the stattistics that Bear brought up. They run their commercials trying to get everyone to believe that there is no risk of "plumping up" by eating their food. If that is the case, why am I now seeing their famous garbage burgers wrapped in paper instead of a bun and with the nicest freshest lettuce, tomato, and onion poking you in the nose. I think its kind of comical. In the end, each and every one of us has a choice to make when it comes to eating healthy and exercising, but if as a child we aren't encouraged to eat right and exercise how will we make it through adulthood without becoming this statistic?

Even this Dam computer knows how to spell Cheeto's. What does that say?

[TimC1086]

I was worried about coming to college, having heard stories about gaining the "freshman 15"... well instead, in two months I've lost 13 to put me at 6'1" 175. (thank you, crew team). incidentally, both my home state and current state of residence made the good list. way to go new england.

[reubenpa]

very goo dpost Fozsey and I couldn't agree with you more, and I would like to add that BEER doesn't help either ... I see BEER GUTS on a lot fo people!!!!!  I never was on a computer until 14, and was outside most of the time, and that kind of stuff help the motabolism....  It drives me crazy to see an EXTREMELY obese kid sitting down complaining and/or arguing to his mom about doing something. I wanna punch the kid and tell him to DO SOMETHING AND OBEY THAT MOM OR DAD OF YOURS!!!  OK I am done now

[TroutFishingBear]

foz hit it pretty much on the nose, except he left out a few things.

I recently did an obesity paper for my contemporary themes class in high school, and I analyzed our school lunches that are served. We get these choices: pizza and fries, cheeseburger and fries, fatty frozen chili cheese burrito and fries, corn dog and fries, and a few other fatty choices of the like. There also is a choice of chef salad, but the salad is made from cr@p material and has no crunch. It is soggy and nobody can eat one.

In the average school lunch at my high school (not counting soda and candy which students, even me, by a lot of) there is 31 grams of fat out of the daily recommended 65-75. That is almost 1/2 of the total of fat per day, not to mention students eat breakfast, snacks, and dinner. I analyzed the diet of 30 members of my contemporary themes class and found that the typical fat intake is 105 GRAMS OF FAT PER DAY!!! AND THAT IS IN THE MOST HEALTHY STATE (COLORADO) IN OUR COUNTRY!!! my county, mesa, was rated #1 for obesity rates per county in colorado, and the average was 105 grams of fat per day!!!

I myself, am fairly heavy for my height: 5'11" 214 lbs, but a lot of that is attributed to muscle mass ( I play baseball all year long for teams and I have my own training), and I strength train. (weights, etc.) Also the fat I do have (I have  a bit above average) is attributed to a thyroid problem, which throws my metabolism out of wack. But the good thing is in fitness tests and such I always pass very high because of my hard work. Who else can hike in 11,000 ft. of elevation in a trail so steep that it can hardly be walked with a 80 lb. pack on for 4 miles straight without stopping? Not many people besides me I know come to mind. ( a lot of you could probably do the above where you live, but the high altitude would get to most of you greatly) So, as you can see, being physically fit doesn't mean you are lightweight.

The elevation is probably the factor that helps us coloradoans (sp) stay ahead of the nation in health.

[bigdave1018]

computers,video games,tv remote controls, micky d, crappy school lunches, junk food,soda and no will power are the biggest reasons for being overweight. when i was much younger it was packed lunches, b+w tv, tinker toys and lincoln logs. my how things have changed!!!

[Pasquatch]

I'm telling ya... as a highschool student, I see all the junk food that is sold there.(Same stuff as TFB is talking about)
But another big reason for all the childhood obesity is that they just don't do anything when they get out of school. ( Footballl practice consists of a bunch of kids eating chips and drinking soda, occasionally running back and forth )
In my class, there are about 10 of us that actively lift weights, run, ect. ; most kids spend all their time playing PS2.
Every year in the beginning and end of the year, we have to perform a physical fitness test for gym and JROTC program.
Most of my fellow classmates top out at one pull up and run a 13 minute mile.
Give the JV football players a barbell and most are benching the bar...I'm not saying you have ot be a beast by any means, but c'mon.. your 15 year old kids, you should be in fairly good physical shape.... right? Am I asking too much of them?

[Fat Boy]

Maryland woulda been in the top 10 but after  genz man and I lost a combined 2 tons of weight, the average dropped significantly and Maryland fell off that radar screen!  Actually, it was only about 200 pounds total...

[TroutFishingBear]

Pasquatch, I guess that shows why colorado, especially my county, is much more healthy than most areas

Football practice is from 3:00-7:30 or whenever it is dark, and all it is is running, pushups, and fitness training. Same with baseball in the spring. I guess that's why the schools around here always do poorly in sports because skill doesn't matter. (but making the team only depends on who your parents are, if you are minority, or how much money your family has, not on skill at all)

We also have fitness tests that each student in a PE class  is required to do once per year.

[Pasquatch]

That's the reason why all the kids are on the football team, they're not dumb( or smart )
Other sports, like wrestling, or baseball, really make the kids do work, and it pays off, for the few who actually do it.
I honestly would have thought that my classmates would want to be fit... evidently not.

[TroutFishingBear]

I honestly would have thought that my classmates would want to be fit... evidently not.

It's easier to be unfit rather than fit. A lot of people our age are really lazy now and not willing to work. I'd say 95% have a playstation 2 or X-box that they play regularly. (I am not one of them, I got over the videogame thing a long time ago) I'd also say about 95% have sattelite or digital cable tv. ( I am not one of those either, I have the standard 4 channels  )