Tuesday is List Day: Top 10 Fattest States in America



That's right. It's Tuesday, and the list-o-mania shall begin. I love these lists pointing out the bad habits of other people so that we can feel superior. In fact, I have family in one of these states (shout out to #3!!). Thankfully, they're not obese. . . yet. I've got my eye on y'all.

Via SF Gate

Top 10 states with the DEADLIEST eating habits


10. New Mexico
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.26 (23rd)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $737 (8th most)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 58 (12th least)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 111 (13th least)
-44th greatest percentage of households without a car that are more than 10 miles from a supermarket or grocery store
-44th-greatest percentage of population that has low income

Lack of access to affordable and nutritious food may force residents to "rely on fast food restaurants and convenience stores instead. New Mexico has the eighth-greatest amount of money spent on fast food per capita among all the states considered."

9. Arizona
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.17 (47th)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $761 (4th most)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 60 (21st least)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 109 (11th least)

With the second fewest grocery stores per person (only 0.17 for every 1,000 people), healthy food access is a problem in this, one of the country's "fastest growing states." Arizonians are "supplementing their diets is with fast food".....spending "$760.50 each on fast food in 2007, the fourth greatest amount among the states."

8. Ohio
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.18 (45th)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $622 (20th least)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 70 (11th most)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 122 (10th most)

A large portion of Ohio's poor live in major metropolises like Cleveland and Cincinnati, so have decent access to grocery stores. However, Ohio also has the "11th-greatest consumption of soft drinks, and top-10 highest consumption of both sweet snacks and solid fats." And along with losing LeBron James, Ohio has the llth-worst rate of adult diabetes in the country, so likely its fair share of depression as well.

7. South Dakota
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.5 (4th)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $547 (9th least)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 64 (23rd least)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 122 (8th most)

With the fifth-smallest population in the country, and yet the 17th-largest geographic area, the fact the S.D. has also "the greatest percentage of households with no car and which are more than 10 miles from a supermarket or grocery store" means poor access to fresh, healthy food. "Only 10.1% of adults in South Dakota consume the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' recommended two or more fruits and three or more vegetables per day, compared to the national average of 14%."

6. Nevada
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.23 (29th)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $939 (most)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 58 (10th least)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 114 (19th least)

Nevada spends the most per capita on fast food than any other state, roughly 25% more than Texas, which comes in second. Also high: households with no cars; income less than 200 percent of the federal poverty thresholds; obesity and diabetes rates.

5. Oklahoma
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.25 (24th)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $676 (15th most)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 69.8 (8th most)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 103.2 (3rd least)

"Household-level food insecurity," which indicates food access problems and disruptions in food intake patterns due to inadequate resources for food, is 15.2% in Oklahoma." Only 9.3% of the population eats the recommended fruit/veg daily intake. "Oklahoma's obesity rate is 31.4%, the fifth-worst in the country."

4. Kansas
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.35 (7th)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $610 (19th least)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 64 (23rd most)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 121 (12th most)

Though Kansas has seventh-best national access to stores where cheap and healthy food is available, most residents clearly don't bother. Consuming the 12th-most sweet snacks and solid fats (more than 20 pounds per person!) KS has "one of the worst diets in the country." No surprise then: it's 28th in adult diabetes and 28% of KS adults are overweight.

3. Missouri
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.26 (22nd)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $623 (21st least)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 65 (18th highest)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 121 (17th most)

Here is a combination of the 11th-lowest rates of adults eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, the eighth-greatest rate of food insecurity, plus high rates of soft drink, sweet snack and solid fats consumption. Also here: the ninth-worst rate of obesity among adults, with "30% having a body mass index greater than 30."

2. Alabama
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.21 (37th)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $649 (23rd most)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 77 (4th most)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 113 (16th least)

Alabama citizens drink 77 gallons of soft drinks per capita, roughly 33% more than Oregon, which consumes the least. "Soft drinks like cola have more sugar per ounce than nearly any other food we regularly consume," and clearly contributes that soda has helped contribute to Alabama's seventh-highest obesity rate and second-worst diabetes rate. More than 12% of adults here the disease.

1. Mississippi
-Grocery Stores Per 1,000 Residents: 0.21 (34th)
-Amount Spent on Fast Food Per Capita: $588 (17th least)
-Gallons of Soft Drinks Purchased Per Capita: 82 (most)
-Pounds of Sweet Snacks Purchased Per Capita: 113 (17th least)

Boasting the worst eating habits in the country, "only 8.8% of the adult population eats the recommended amount of daily fruits and vegetables"; meanwhile, residents "consumed just under 82 gallons of soft drinks per capita in 2006, the greatest amount reported." Further problematic, MS has the US's third-highest rate of household-level food insecurity. Results? Depressing: "the state has the highest rates of both adult diabetes (12.8%) and adult obesity (34.4%)."

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