CDC Report: State-Specific Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults
 

From this week's edition of the U.S. Center for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report:

State-Specific Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults --- United States, 2007

July 18, 2008 / 57(28);765-768

Obesity is associated with reduced quality of life, development of serious chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, increased medical care costs, and premature death (1,2). A Healthy People 2010 objective is to reduce to 15% the proportion of adults who are obese (3). In 2005, no state met this target, and (based on self-reported height and weight) 23.9% of adults in the United States were obese (4). To update 2005 estimates of the prevalence of obesity in adults, CDC analyzed data from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. The results of that analysis indicated that 25.6% of respondents overall in 2007 were obese; the prevalence of obesity among adults remained above 15% in all states and was above 30% in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Enhanced collaborative efforts among national, state, and community groups are needed to establish, evaluate, and sustain effective programs and policies to reduce the prevalence of obesity in the United States.

BRFSS is an ongoing, state-based, random-digit--dialed telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized U.S. civilian population aged >18 years. Survey data are used to monitor progress in achieving health objectives at the state level and in selected metropolitan statistical areas.* Data are weighted to the respondents' probabilities of being selected and to the age-, race-, and sex-specific populations from each state's annually adjusted census. In the 2007 BRFSS survey, Council of American Survey and Research Organizations (CASRO) response rates† among states ranged from 26.9% to 65.4% (median: 50.6%), and cooperation rates§ ranged from 49.6% to 84.6% (median: 72.1%).

Body mass index (BMI) (weight [kg] / height [m]2) was calculated from self-reported weight and height at the time of the survey. Obesity was defined as a BMI >30.0. (1). To maintain consistency with previous analyses (4,5), respondents with self-reported weight >500 pounds or height >7 feet were excluded.

In the 2007 BRFSS survey, 25.6% of respondents overall were obese. Obesity prevalence was 26.4% for men and 24.8% for women (Table). By age group, obesity prevalence ranged from 19.1% for men and women aged 18--29 years to 31.7% and 30.2%, respectively, for men and women aged 50--59 years. By race/ethnicity and sex, obesity prevalence was highest for non-Hispanic black women (39.0%) followed by non-Hispanic black men (32.1%).

By education level, for men, obesity prevalence was lowest among college graduates (22.1%) and highest among those with some college (29.5%) and a high school diploma (29.1%). For women, obesity prevalence was lowest among college graduates (17.9%) and highest among those with less than a high school diploma (32.6%).

By region, the prevalence of obesity was higher in the South (27.3%) and Midwest (26.5%) and lower in the Northeast (24.4%) and West (23.1%) (Table). State-specific obesity prevalence ranged from 18.7% to 32.0% and was <20% in only one state: Colorado (18.7%) (Figure). Obesity prevalence was >30% in three states: Alabama (30.3%), Mississippi (32.0%), and Tennessee (30.1%). No state met the Healthy People 2010 target of 15%, and 30 states had obesity prevalence >25%.



Although U.S. Government publications are in the public domain, I have refrained from posting the whole report out of consideration for members of the Low-Carber forums.

The rest of the report can be accessed (along with references, table and map) at the link provided at the top of my post.

I still swear the people in FL are lying about their weights. 20-24%... yeeeah, I'm buying that.

Advanced search for CDC report came up with this 2008 post.
Here is same report for 2016 issued Aug 31st.

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html

(Link has the usual maps by states)

So taking this report literally.... If men want to be thinner, they should not finish high school, certainly not graduate high school and never go to college unless they are absolutely certain they will graduate. Women on the other hand, should certainly finish high school, take some college or better complete college. Also, no one should ever turn 50 and if you do, make sure you turn 70.

Seriously though, it has little or nothing to do with sex, educational level, race, age or whatever. The best interpretation, I've seen, of the data is "Don't eat sugar and if you do, please stop."

Well, the statistics provided line up with my expectation you wouldn't expect to see as much visible metabolic damage (obesity) in younger people as ones who've been around accruing damage a few decades longer. Just wait long enough and those young people will find their share of middle-age spread, too, if things don't change. Gary Taubes pointed out that low-quality carbohydrates are the cheapest food, so guess what people with a tiny food budget can afford? Less education, lower paying jobs, less money for food. Higher rates of poverty may explain greater obesity in the southern U.S. for this reason. Healthy foods like meat and veggies aren't cheap, but obesogenic refined carbs (both the sugars and the starches that digest into them) are.

DietDoctor adds the coverage from five media outlets.

Some of them brush aside the inconvenient data that one in three adults is "beyond overweight" (a new kinder name for obese in headline?) to note that a number of states are "stabilizing" in obesity growth.

From Chicago Tribune: "While a third of American adults and one in six children are obese, a report Thursday suggests the rate of increase could be stabilizing in some states."

https://www.dietdoctor.com/us-obesi...s-new-time-high

It is a carb-worshipping culture. All the meat is breaded, the tea is sugared to maple syrup levels, cornbread or grits appears at every meal, the desserts are so rich they have to serve pickles afterward to keep people from fainting, and everyone drinks "co-cola."

My own experiences with carb craving as a response to stress explains some of it. :agree:

Yup. The Hostess Deep Fried Twinkies made it to our grocery store. My DH looked at that and said it's amazing they can take something that bad and make it worse. :lol: Oh, and every carbonated soft drink in Texas is a coke, regardless of what the label calls it. At least that was true when I was a kid.

Yankee BS.

What's the world coming to when people are too lazy to deep fry their own twinkies?

I grew up very poor in the 50s. Lots and lots of starchy carbs at every meal, with an occasional sprinkling of meat mixed in, and a few canned vegetables, ie, one can of green beans divided among a family of 5. Mac and cheese, spaghetti, fried potatoes. No one was fat, however, because there wasn't enough food to make you fat. Different story once we grew up and could afford much more of the crappy food.