Where Fat is At: Wisconsin Obesity Map

By Heather Martino

America's obesity epidemic extends all the way to Waukesha County, with obesity rates at 32.5 percent for men and 29.5 percent for women in 2011.

Using the map above, you can see the rate was only 23 percent for men and 20.3 percent for women in 2001.

Obesity in Waukesha County increased more rapidly than the rest of the state, with a statewide 8.3 percentage point increase in the same time period for men and 7.8 percent for women.

Compared to other states, men and women in Waukesha County are slimmer than the national average of 33.8 percent for men and 36 percent for women. In 2011, obesity prevalence for both genders in the U.S. ranged from 20.7 percent in Colorado to 34.9 percent in Mississippi, according to the CDC.

The county figures on the map were obtained from a recent study from the University of Washington, which found that nationwide women are more obese than their male counterparts.

According to the CDC, obesity affects more than one-third of adults, or 35.7 percent of the population in the United States. Obesity is calculated by measuring a person’s height and weight, and deriving at a ratio called the body mass index, or BMI. This number often correlates to an individual’s amount of body fat, and is used to ascertain whether a person is considered underweight, a normal weight, overweight or obese.

Obese individuals have a 50 to 100 percent increased risk of premature death, and it's estimated that obesity may be the cause of 300,000 deaths per year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Americans claim to be exercising more during the same time period that obesity climbed.

"Around the country, you can see huge increases in the percentage of people becoming physically active, which research tells us is certain to have health benefits," said IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray in a press release. Murray added that "If communities in the U.S. can replicate this success and tackle the ongoing obesity impact, it will see more substantial health gains."