Illinois Kind of Fat, According to CDC

CHICAGO, IL — Illinois is kind of fat, according to the Centers for Disease Control, but not as fat as most of its neighbors.

Illinois ranked 18th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia for the prevalence of self-reported obesity with an average of 30.8 percent, a CDC study shows. That beats Iowa, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky — which was all the way up at No. 5 at 34.6 percent.

One important aspect of the study is the obesity rate is self-reported, so the people of Kentucky may not necessarily be that much more obese than those of Colorado, who are self-reportedly the least obese in the nation. They may simply be more honest.

Other revelations from the 2015 study:

• No state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20 percent.
• In six states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana and Utah — and the District of Columbia, obesity ranged from 20 percent to less than 25 percent.
• Nineteen states had a prevalence of obesity between 25 percent and 30 percent.
• Obesity prevalence in 21 states was between 30 percent and 35 percent.
• Four states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia — had an obesity prevalence of 35 percent or greater.

The South had the highest prevalence of obesity at 31.2 percent, followed by the Midwest, 30.7 percent, the Northeast, 26.4 percent, and the West, 25.2 percent.

Here is the CDC ranking of self-reported obesity prevalence:

1. Louisiana: 36.2
2. Alabama: 35.6
Mississippi: 35.6
West Virginia: 35.6
5. Kentucky: 34.6
6. Arkansas: 34.5
7. Kansas: 34.2
8. Oklahoma: 33.9
9. Tennessee: 33.8
10. Missouri: 32.4
Texas: 32.4
12. Iowa: 32.1
13. South Carolina: 31.7
14. Nebraska: 31.4
15. Indiana: 31.3
16. Michigan: 31.2
17. North Dakota: 31.0
18. Illinois: 30.8
19. Georgia: 30.7
Wisconsin: 30.7
21. South Dakota: 30.4
22. North Carolina: 30.1
Oregon: 30.1
24. Maine: 30.0
Pennsylvania: 30.0
26. Alaska: 29.8
Ohio: 29.8
28. Delaware: 29.7
29. Virginia: 29.2
30. Wyoming: 29.0
31. Maryland: 28.9
32. New Mexico: 28.8
33. Idaho: 28.6
34. Arizona: 28.4
35. Florida: 26.8
36. Nevada: 26.7
37 Washington: 26.4
38. New Hampshire: 26.3
39. Minnesota: 26.1
40. Rhode Island: 26.0
41. New Jersey: 25.6
42. Connecticut: 25.3
43. Vermont: 25.1
44. New York: 25.0
45. Utah: 24.5
46. Massachusetts: 24.3
47, California: 24.2
48. Montana: 23.6
49. Hawaii: 22.7
50. District of Columbia: 22.1
51. Colorado: 20.2

Photo provided by CDC/ Debora Cartagena