The Fattest States in America

Wall Street 24X7 ^ | 03/11/2014 | By Thomas C. Frohlich, Alexander E.M. Hess, Vince Calio and Ashley C. Allen

[RIghtwardHo]

Actually it is more expensive to “eat well”. Prepared foods and fast foods tend to be cheaper and more filling. And even among non-prepared foods the better selections are much more expensive. Decent fruit is quite expensive.

So it’s not a case of eating more as it is the quality of what you eat that contributes, more than anything, to obesity. If McDonalds is running a special on fish sandwiches at a couple bucks each, that’s where the poor will gravitate.

While I see some political spin in a handful of the comments, this isn’t a political issue.

[ckilmer]

What you'll notice that these same states also correlate with states with the highest percentage of welfare and food stamps. http://www.city-data.com/forum/politics-other-controversies/1849761-welfare-us-just-facts.html

Source: Welfare Statistics | Statistic Brain

Map of which states have the lowest welfare rate as a percentage of population (lowest = 1st place) to states with the highest welfare participation rate as a percentage of population (50 = highest).



Finally, we can consider food stamps (SNAP) which technically isn't welfare as it isn't run by the department of health and human services and instead is run by the department of agriculture under the farm subsidy program. Here is a graph with the percentage of population receiving food stamps by state.

Percent of State Population Participating in SNAP Program, FY2011


Source: Author's calculations using U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
Proposed rules give states more power to fight food stamp fraud | CSG Knowledge Center

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/politics-other-controversies/1849761-welfare-us-just-facts-unemployment-gallon.html#ixzz2vgFgCjIL

[fwdude]

[Pollster1]

In case anyone is interested, the least obese states (percent of adult population labeled as obese) are:

Montana: 19.6 percent
Colorado: 20.4 percent
Nevada: 21.1 percent
Minnesota: 22.0 percent
Massachusetts: 22.2 percent
Connecticut: 23.2 percent
New Mexico: 23.5 percent
California: 23.6 percent
Hawaii: 23.7 percent
New York: 24.0 percent

[peyton randolph]

“Certain ethnic groups don’t do well on the American diet. Native Americans and Mexicans skew the results here in OK.”

*****

The same can be said for blacks in Mississippi.

[expat2]

I wouldn’t call Ohio, West Virginia, or Delaware ‘southeast states’.

[BeadCounter]

I agree, well stated.

It’s a pity that I can eat fresh/steamed vegetables or other healthy entrees, good for you but if I really want to feel full, unfortunately, it will often be something with a lot of white bread. The local convenience store has 2 hotdogs for $2, if I even eat that much, doesn’t sound like much, I can feel stuffed.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Wonder how many of those obese are unemployed and food stamps.

[peyton randolph]

California

*****

The late comedian Sam Kinison explained that pretty well when discussing thin homosexuals.

“Who wants to eat when you’ve had a **** in your mouth all day.”

[Sherman Logan]

Actually it is more expensive to “eat well”. Prepared foods and fast foods tend to be cheaper and more filling.

Baloney, hogwash and nonsense.

Eating out, even fast foods, and prepared foods are MUCH more expensive than home-cooked meals prepared from staple ingredients.

You can get 25 pounds of beans and 25 pounds of rice at Costco for <$30. You can eat quite a long time on that. Add some limited vegetables and fruit and you're good to go at a very low cost. Diet will be boring, but quite nutritious.

"Decent fruit" more often refers to the appearance than the nutritional value.

[Monterrosa-24]

Yep, it is the preppers and big conservative families that buy the big bags of rice, beans, and grits. The EMT crowd buys the expensive stuff.

[dhs12345]

Yup. Mississippi and Louisiana. :)

A few years back, we took a fun little road trip to New Orleans. After a week or so my wife and I were craving a salad. After all of the gravy and rich sauces, we were desperate for something green.

We asked the attendant at our hotel if she might recommend a place with a good salad. She thought for a few seconds and suggested Wendys and then repeated an old saying: “here in Louisiana, we live to eat, not eat to live.”

[ckilmer]

now correlate obesity, welfare and food stamps with general wellness. Once again the same states show up. From this link. http://info.healthways.com/wbi2013

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index

New! “State of American Well-Being: 2013 State Rankings and Analysis”

 

For the sixth consecutive year, global well-being improvement leader Healthways and world-leading management consulting firm Gallup have released their analysis of the state of well-being across the United States. The analysis is based on data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index®, a definitive measure and empiric database of real-time changes in well-being throughout the world.

 

More than 178,000 interviews nationwide fueled the 2013 analysis, which examined Americans’ perceptions on topics such as physical and emotional health, healthy behaviors, work environment, social and community factors, financial security, and access to necessities such as food, shelter and healthcare to create a composite well-being rank for each state.

 

Launched in 2008, the Well-Being Index provides unmatched, in-depth insight into the well-being of populations. Gallup conducts 500 telephone interviews a day with Americans to gather their perceptions of well-being, for a resulting sample that represents an estimated 95 percent of all U.S. households. In 2013, Gallup and Healthways extended the reach of the Well-Being Index beyond the United States; global leaders now have the ability to benchmark the well-being of their country against the results of roughly 140 countries around the world.

 

The full “State of American Well-Being: 2013 State, Community and Congressional District Analysis,” as well as state-level reports, will be available online in April. Look for the “State of Global Well-Being” reports this summer. 

 

 

State Rank Changes, 2012 – 2013

Download the state rankings 

 

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[latina4dubya]

Who woulda thunk that poor is now fat...

i know! it used to be that portly was a sign of wealth...

[madison10]

Theory is that it is cheaper/free to get processed high fat, high salt, high unhealthy foods than it is to buy fresh vegetables, fruits and dairy products. Some areas are probably so unsafe people don’t grocery shop much. How would they get to the farmer’s markets that many of us have available?

People are most likely depressed/stressed due to their situations and eat for psychological relief.

[Wallace T.]

Government cheese, not race, is the issue. Three of the top ten states (OK,WV, KY) have white populations above the national average. The great grandparents of these people, irrespective of ancestry, likely grew most of their own food. Root, hog, or die worked then. It would work now except that no welfare plan has ever been repealed through the political process.

[LumberJack53213]

Hmmm, I thought for sure my state of Wisconsin would be on that list.

Packer season tickets are worth an extra 150 on women in Green Bay.

[BeadCounter]

Beans and rice were mentioned, great dish is red beans and rice but it appears that has a fairly good kick of calories all the same. http://www.fitday.com/webfit/nutrition/All_Foods/Pasta_and_Cereal_Grains/Rice_with_red_beans.html

[Fightin Whitey]

Packer season tickets are worth an extra 150 on women in Green Bay.

Warmer that way too.

[nascarnation]

Cold weather makes you burn calories just to stay alive.
I think that’s why you don’t see many cold weather states on the fat list.

When TSHTF and it becomes a LOT of work to stay warm in winter, the entitlement army will stream south.