Overweight and obesity in the U.S. by leading states 2018

In Mississippi, over seven out of ten adults were reported to be either overweight or obese in 2018, making it the leading U.S. state that year. Other prominent states, in terms of overweight and obesity, included Arkansas in fourth, Oklahoma in seventh, and Louisiana in tenth place.

Corpulence per state

When it comes to obesity, specifically, percentages were still very high for certain states. Almost forty percent of West Virginia’s population was obese in 2018. Colorado, Hawaii, and California were some of the healthier states that year, with obesity rates between 22 and 25 percent. The average for the country itself stood at just over 31 percent.

Obesity-related health problems

Being obese can lead to various health-related complications, such as diabetes and diseases of the heart. In 2017, almost 22 people per 100,000 died of diabetes mellitus in the United States. In the same year, roughly 165 per 100,000 Americans died of heart disease. While the number of deaths caused by heart disease has decreased significantly over the past sixty to seventy years, it is still one of the leading causes of death in the country.