Sarasota, Bradenton Residents Among Nation's Skinniest

Bradenton, Sarasota and North Port area residents aren’t the least likely in the country to be obese, but they come close.

That’s according to recently released results of a Gallup and Healthways survey conducted in 2014. The results of that survey were announced Thursday, placing the local metro area among the country’s skinniest. The leader in the poll is Colorado Springs, Colo., where the obesity rate was pegged at 19.6 percent, according to Gallup. The Sarasota area’s obesity rate was 21.4 percent.

To arrive at its results, Gallup conducted telephone interviews as part of its Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index survey between Jan. 2 and Dec. 29, 2014. The random sample included 176,702 adults, age 18 and up, from all parts of the country. Respondents’ self-reported height and weight calculations were used to determine body mass index (BMI) to arrive at the findings.

Nationally, researchers found, the obesity rate climbed in 2014 to 27.7 percent, which was up from 27.1 percent in 2013.

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Metro areas with the lowest obesity rates were:

• Colorado Springs
• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
• Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.
• Provo-Orem, Utah
• Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.
• Urban Honolulu, Hawaii
• Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.
• North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton

Areas with the highest obesity rates included Baton Rouge, La., Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa., and Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.

To check out the full report, visit Gallup online.

Image via Shutterstock

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