Most Overweight States: Where MN Ranks

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota is among the least obese states in the U.S., according to a new study from WalletHub.

On a list of U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Minnesota ranks as the 45th "most obese," the report finds. The Land of 10,000 Lakes also ranks low in the number of obese children and percent of adults with high cholesterol.

West Virginia, meanwhile, is ranked as the most obese state in the U.S. There, 41.3 percent of its adults are classified as obese and another 32.6 percent are overweight but not obese, WalletHub notes.

West Virginia's health problems are blamed on its population's high consumption of sugary beverages, low number of healthy food retailers, and a high number of physically inactive adults.

"In order to determine the most overweight and obese states in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) Obesity & Overweight Prevalence, 2) Health Consequences and 3) Food & Fitness," WalletHub states.

"We evaluated those dimensions using 31 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most overweight state. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), we calculated the population size using the square root of the population in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across states. Finally, we determined each state and the District’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states."

Check out the 10 most and least obese states below:

10 most obese U.S. states

1. West Virginia
2. Mississippi
3. Kentucky
4. Louisiana
5. Arkansas
6. Tennessee
7. Alabama
8. Texas
9. South Carolina
10. Delaware

10 least obese U.S. states

42. Vermont
43. Montana
44. Washington
45. Minnesota
46. California
47. District of Columbia
48. Hawaii
49. Massachusetts
50. Utah
51. Colorado

Check out the entire study here.