Texas Is Fatter Than 42 Other States

AUSTIN, TX — The eyes of Texas are upon the weighing scale. In a land abundant with chicken fried Texas, awash in gravy and replete with robust breakfast tacos, it was all but inevitable that we'd land on the list of fattest states, and we have.

According to financial news website 24/7 Wall St., Texas is the eighth-fattest state in the country, tightly wedged between Oklahoma and Kentucky. Here's the tale of the tape, according to the site's findings:

TEXAS

Adult obesity rate: 33.7 percent.

Adults overweight and obese: 68.5% (10th largest).

Adults who do not exercise: 25.2% (17th largest)

Premature deaths (before age 75) per 100,000 population: 341.3 (24th highest)

Nationwide, roughly 35 percent of adults can be classified as overweight and another 30 percent are obese, according to the report. The obesity rate today is twice what it was in the 1980s nationwide, and is now considered the second-leading cause of premature death in the U.S.

According to the Mayo Clinic, obesity is diagnosed when a person’s body mass index, or BMI, is 30 or higher. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal while a score of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. Anything past that is deemed obese, with varying levels.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2016 obesity rates in every state as calculated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Given the aforementioned, hard-to-resist Southern cooking offerings, the South had nine of the 10 steepest obesity rates, researchers found. West Virginia was deemed the most obese state, with a rate of 37.7 percent. Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana rounded out the top five.

Conversely, low obesity rates are found elsewhere, particularly in the Rocky Mountains region, the Northeast and the West coast. Colorado was found to be the least obese state with a rate of 22.3 percent. Massachusetts, Hawaii, California and Utah followed closely behind.

Overall, most Americans are either overweight or obese, the report said. This could be problematic as an excessive amount of body fat is more than simply “a cosmetic concern,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

“It increases your risk of diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure,” Mayo clinic medics wrote on their website. Being extremely obese means you are particularly likely to have weight-related health problems, doctors added.

Moreover, a National Institute of Health study found that life expectancy for an obese person is on average 14 years shorter than it is for someone with a healthier body mass. Even modest weight loss can improve or prevent such outcomes, and the agency suggests dietary changes, increased physical activity and behavioral changes to lose weight, researchers said.

Click here to read the full report.

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