Which American states are the most obese?

AMERICA'S elite athletes may have topped the Olympics medal table, but the rest of the country is not in such good shape. The latest annual survey from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reveals a state-by-state picture of the nation's battle with the bulge. The survey uses people's self-reported height and weight to determine body mass index: a BMI of 30 or over is considered obese. Outdoorsy Colorado and Hawaii are the slimmest places, but even there, over a fifth of adults—20.7% and 21.8% respectively—are obese. Tipping the scale at the other end are Mississippi and Louisiana, where obese adults make up 34.9% and 33.4% of the population. As the map below shows, these extremes correspond to a general pattern of lean western states and portly southern ones. The District of Columbia and commuter states around New York City are also notable for their relative, possibly wealth-related, thinness. The figures are self-reported, but a national study based on measured height and weight released in February put the national obesity rate even higher, at 36%. This year's survey cannot be compared with previous years' because the methodology has been changed to include households that only use mobile phones, thereby capturing poorer and younger households that lack landlines.

