CDC obesity map in America - why are some geographic areas more impacted than others?

SafariGalNYC

Reading today about health in America (NYE resolutions & end of year statistics and such) —I came across this CDC Adult Obesity Prevalence Map.







Why are some states impacted more than others? Is it economic? Cultural? Education ?

I originally thought it may be economic, with NY & California having a less prevalent obesity rate, but then Colorado is the leanest state, although not the wealthiest, where fewer than one in four adults are obese.

Is it micro culture in each state influencing health/fitness norms?


https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/annual_data/annual_2023.html


Re personal income by state: (not saying it’s economic, but is it interesting to see the states with leaner populations rank higher in wealth. But then there are outliers like Wyoming.)

https://www.statsamerica.org/sip/rank_list.aspx?rank_label=pcpi1

Adventurista

It is likely a complex entanglement of social, economic matters and other things like education, advertising, food diversity and availability.

States are a rather broad categorization. I would be interested to see smaller mapping by area, such as by county indicating urban v rural, also by economic clusters and food availabilty - do they overlay in urban, large poverty areas and/or food desert areas? I would suspect the areas with these 3 indicators to be the worst.

chris_in_cal

It's very interesting, there are multivariate reasons. Any "answer" we get is wrong. Statistics don't speak to an individual person.

But yes, financial stress, education level, economic opportunities, climate, crime level, etc. There are several factors that correlate to fitness levels.

An obese person in Colorado and a trim and fit person in Arkansas both deal with CICO, but there are dozens of huge other factors that led them to their current condition.

It is fascinating and important to understand these variables. Thanks for posting this.

neanderthin

It's complex, no doubt about it. This is kind of my wheelhouse and interest based on my personal journey to better health from basically looking at all sorts of literature and data but on the surface and again this doesn't apply to an individual for example but data looking at populations, which within that data you'll find the full spectrum of examples and experiences on that individual basis.

Anyway, it's pretty well established that the major considerations are for example and these seem to be pretty much found in most data looking at this problem on a national level;

• Socioeconomic Status
• Dietary Habits
• Physical Inactivity
• Cultural Factors
• Healthcare Access
• Education

One or a combination of these factors can be and is complex and challenging to address obesity uniformly across the states and again not necessarily on that individual basis, which like I said will cover the full spectrum of healthfulness.

Corina1143

While food is as cheap or cheaper in the middle states, it is a larger percentage of our budget. Gym membership may be the same across the nation, making it cheap for those with higher income, but very expensive for middle states with lower income. City people may walk to the gym. I drive 6 miles there, 6 back. so commuting expense also matters. Our homes may be bigger. We own the land it sits on and more.

We also have slightly different ideals and expectations.
Where I grew up-- town of 800 people, common in middle states, it's not as important to impress people with your body or your clothes, since everyone knows every detail of your life. They know your heart, where size really does matter.

For lots of people in the country, size only counts with age. When their health starts to suffer from effects of the weight, They start to pay attention. Until then, it just doesn't matter enough to do the work.

sollyn23l2

Having moved to Texas, I would say it's cultural without a doubt. All people do is eat, eat, eat, eat, eat. Barbecue and Mexican. All day every day. Diet soda? Not on your life. It's full sugar or bust. Well... both really... it's full sugar until you bust.