Obesity rate by states....

LynnBirchfield

Read this article about obesity rate by states -- it's interesting. It's sad that as a nation the percentage rate is so high. At least it is leveling off. And, at least WE'RE trying to do something here on MFP!!!!!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/07/obesity-states-rates_n_892181.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl3|sec1_lnk3|76185

anthony438

Does anyone have the state by state breakdown? I want to see where my state placed

Scott613

Your BMI is kinda a BS index It goes off height and weight. I should weigh 179 tops according to the bmi chart. I weigh 215 at 13% body fat so yeah it has it's flaws to it.

SueInAz

Your BMI is kinda a BS index It goes off height and weight. I should weigh 179 tops according to the bmi chart. I weigh 215 at 13% body fat so yeah it has it's flaws to it.

BMI is useless for those with a lot of muscle mass. To figure out if someone is obese, use a combination of BMI and waistline. You obviously don't have a large waist.

Heatherbelle_87

2009 State Obesity Rates
State % State % State % State %
Alabama 31.0 Illinois 26.5 Montana 23.2 Rhode Island 24.6
Alaska 24.8 Indiana 29.5 Nebraska 27.2 South Carolina 29.4
Arizona 25.5 Iowa 27.9 Nevada 25.8 South Dakota 29.6
Arkansas 30.5 Kansas 28.1 New Hampshire 25.7 Tennessee 32.3
California 24.8 Kentucky 31.5 New Jersey 23.3 Texas 28.7
Colorado 18.6 Louisiana 33.0 New Mexico 25.1 Utah 23.5
Connecticut 20.6 Maine 25.8 New York 24.2 Vermont 22.8
Delaware 27.0 Maryland 26.2 North Carolina 29.3 Virginia 25.0
Washington DC 19.7 Massachusetts 21.4 North Dakota 27.9 Washington 26.4
Florida 25.2 Michigan 29.6 Ohio 28.8 West Virginia 31.1
Georgia 27.2 Minnesota 24.6 Oklahoma 31.4 Wisconsin 28.7
Hawaii 22.3 Mississippi 34.4 Oregon 23.0 Wyoming 24.6
Idaho 24.5 Missouri 30.0 Pennsylvania 27.4


http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Random aside rant: I hate when they have reports on obesity and show people. yeah, they don't show their faces, but could you imagine being the person in the article (or broadcast)? All of a sudden under the headline "OBESITY" is a picture of you, like you are the willing poster child. There was a TV boradcast they did here a vew years ago that showed footage upon footage of the lunch crowd from the back, walking away from the camera, the camera panning in and out from peoples butts . . . I thought that was shameful.

Andee08

Go figure...I live in the state with the lowest obesity rate....I knew everyone looked extremely thin here in Colorado!

anthony438

Your BMI is kinda a BS index It goes off height and weight. I should weigh 179 tops according to the bmi chart. I weigh 215 at 13% body fat so yeah it has it's flaws to it.

True, but once you get to the high 30's and up, it's probably closer to reliable.

After all, if I was low BF at my start weight, I'd have looked like the hulk.

Scott613

Your BMI is kinda a BS index It goes off height and weight. I should weigh 179 tops according to the bmi chart. I weigh 215 at 13% body fat so yeah it has it's flaws to it.

True, but once you get to the high 30's and up, it's probably closer to reliable.

After all, if I was low BF at my start weight, I'd have looked like the hulk.

The chart says my bmi is 32, I don't feel obese at all!

anthony438

Your BMI is kinda a BS index It goes off height and weight. I should weigh 179 tops according to the bmi chart. I weigh 215 at 13% body fat so yeah it has it's flaws to it.

True, but once you get to the high 30's and up, it's probably closer to reliable.

After all, if I was low BF at my start weight, I'd have looked like the hulk.

The chart says my bmi is 32, I don't feel obese at all!

Mine is 38

>.>
<.<

...no comment...

:laugh:

Hollycat

I'm with allabtim. I find this kind of 'report' alarming. Not because of the numbers, but because the report exists and the reasons for its existence. It's very 'big brother'. And since the 'authorities' don't have a freaking clue about how to deal with it, without the response being punitive, or by offering surgery as the treatment, it's even more alarming. My first thought is usually, 'how will they persecute us next?'. There are even folks on this forum who group all parents of overweight children as 'bad parents'. How on earth do we fight the kind of prejudice and misinformation that's doled out about us on a daily basis when we can't even come to a collective, rational, informed, knowledgable understanding of our condition ourselves? You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you try to inform people with the facts while you're fat, you're dismissed. If you try to do it as a former fattie, you're dismissed, because you're no longer fat and it's assumed you've conquered the problem [not allowing for the very real reality that maintenance is a life-long battle and is as difficult, if not more so than losing weight]. It's a viscious, no-win situation. :frown:

Hollycat

Heatherbelle_87

I'm with allabtim. I find this kind of 'report' alarming. Not because of the numbers, but because the report exists and the reasons for its existence. It's very 'big brother'. And since the 'authorities' don't have a freaking clue about how to deal with it, without the response being punitive, or by offering surgery as the treatment, it's even more alarming. My first thought is usually, 'how will they persecute us next?'. There are even folks on this forum who group all parents of overweight children as 'bad parents'. How on earth do we fight the kind of prejudice and misinformation that's doled out about us on a daily basis when we can't even come to a collective, rational, informed, knowledgable understanding of our condition ourselves? You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you try to inform people with the facts while you're fat, you're dismissed. If you try to do it as a former fattie, you're dismissed, because you're no longer fat and it's assumed you've conquered the problem [not allowing for the very real reality that maintenance is a life-long battle and is as difficult, if not more so than losing weight]. It's a viscious, no-win situation. :frown:

Hollycat

It is big brotherish and the reason the CDC keeps up with it yearly now is because health insurance companies are legally allowed to charge you higher rates based on your health and BMI. Obviously for those with high amounts of muscle there is an appeals process and a way for them to determine things better for you. Companies being charged more for insurance has encourage many large companies to offer fitness programs, counseling, on site gyms, or discounted gym memberships to help save both otehr employees and the company money in the end. Other things that effect your insurance rates on a company level are the number of employees with chronic illnesses, number of minor dependants, as well as the overall cost to the insurance company last year-prior to yoru renewal. This information is now shared between insurance companies when you start shopping around for renewal rates (dont you love it? NOT!)

I agree with you on the parenting thing but that is for another time/topic.

Honestly though the public articles about it are more about shock value to try and scare you to become healthier. But as many of us know and will admit on here, we know when we are overweight or obese, WE have to want to change it.

bcattoes

Your BMI is kinda a BS index It goes off height and weight. I should weigh 179 tops according to the bmi chart. I weigh 215 at 13% body fat so yeah it has it's flaws to it.

True, but once you get to the high 30's and up, it's probably closer to reliable.

After all, if I was low BF at my start weight, I'd have looked like the hulk.

The chart says my bmi is 32, I don't feel obese at all!

It's true that BMI alone is not a true indicator of obesity. But, surely you also know that you are not the norm. The sad fact is that Americans continue to become more and more obese as whole.

mgmlap

I live in Colorado too..maybe its the lack of oxygen...LOL....but yea..lots of thin people..maybe cause there is so much to do outdoors..

Andee08

I live in Colorado too..maybe its the lack of oxygen...LOL....but yea..lots of thin people..maybe cause there is so much to do outdoors..

I always say its because of the altitude...we have to work harder to breath!

_angua_

Random aside rant: I hate when they have reports on obesity and show people. yeah, they don't show their faces, but could you imagine being the person in the article (or broadcast)? All of a sudden under the headline "OBESITY" is a picture of you, like you are the willing poster child. There was a TV boradcast they did here a vew years ago that showed footage upon footage of the lunch crowd from the back, walking away from the camera, the camera panning in and out from peoples butts . . . I thought that was shameful.

I've thought about that too! I was once watching, thinking how horrible it would be to be watching the news and all of a sudden my fat butt was on the screen

Heatherbelle_87

I live in Colorado too..maybe its the lack of oxygen...LOL....but yea..lots of thin people..maybe cause there is so much to do outdoors..

I always say its because of the altitude...we have to work harder to breath!

Going from COlorado SPrings to AZ, I have to say my workouts got 100 times easier coming down to sea level thats for sure! lol

LynnBirchfield

I'm with allabtim. I find this kind of 'report' alarming. Not because of the numbers, but because the report exists and the reasons for its existence. It's very 'big brother'. And since the 'authorities' don't have a freaking clue about how to deal with it, without the response being punitive, or by offering surgery as the treatment, it's even more alarming. My first thought is usually, 'how will they persecute us next?'. There are even folks on this forum who group all parents of overweight children as 'bad parents'. How on earth do we fight the kind of prejudice and misinformation that's doled out about us on a daily basis when we can't even come to a collective, rational, informed, knowledgable understanding of our condition ourselves? You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you try to inform people with the facts while you're fat, you're dismissed. If you try to do it as a former fattie, you're dismissed, because you're no longer fat and it's assumed you've conquered the problem [not allowing for the very real reality that maintenance is a life-long battle and is as difficult, if not more so than losing weight]. It's a viscious, no-win situation. :frown:

Hollycat

It is big brotherish and the reason the CDC keeps up with it yearly now is because health insurance companies are legally allowed to charge you higher rates based on your health and BMI. Obviously for those with high amounts of muscle there is an appeals process and a way for them to determine things better for you. Companies being charged more for insurance has encourage many large companies to offer fitness programs, counseling, on site gyms, or discounted gym memberships to help save both otehr employees and the company money in the end. Other things that effect your insurance rates on a company level are the number of employees with chronic illnesses, number of minor dependants, as well as the overall cost to the insurance company last year-prior to yoru renewal. This information is now shared between insurance companies when you start shopping around for renewal rates (dont you love it? NOT!)

I agree with you on the parenting thing but that is for another time/topic.

Honestly though the public articles about it are more about shock value to try and scare you to become healthier. But as many of us know and will admit on here, we know when we are overweight or obese, WE have to want to change it.

I had no idea that the insurance companies could have access to an individual's information. That's horrible.

Heatherbelle_87

I'm with allabtim. I find this kind of 'report' alarming. Not because of the numbers, but because the report exists and the reasons for its existence. It's very 'big brother'. And since the 'authorities' don't have a freaking clue about how to deal with it, without the response being punitive, or by offering surgery as the treatment, it's even more alarming. My first thought is usually, 'how will they persecute us next?'. There are even folks on this forum who group all parents of overweight children as 'bad parents'. How on earth do we fight the kind of prejudice and misinformation that's doled out about us on a daily basis when we can't even come to a collective, rational, informed, knowledgable understanding of our condition ourselves? You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you try to inform people with the facts while you're fat, you're dismissed. If you try to do it as a former fattie, you're dismissed, because you're no longer fat and it's assumed you've conquered the problem [not allowing for the very real reality that maintenance is a life-long battle and is as difficult, if not more so than losing weight]. It's a viscious, no-win situation. :frown:

Hollycat

It is big brotherish and the reason the CDC keeps up with it yearly now is because health insurance companies are legally allowed to charge you higher rates based on your health and BMI. Obviously for those with high amounts of muscle there is an appeals process and a way for them to determine things better for you. Companies being charged more for insurance has encourage many large companies to offer fitness programs, counseling, on site gyms, or discounted gym memberships to help save both otehr employees and the company money in the end. Other things that effect your insurance rates on a company level are the number of employees with chronic illnesses, number of minor dependants, as well as the overall cost to the insurance company last year-prior to yoru renewal. This information is now shared between insurance companies when you start shopping around for renewal rates (dont you love it? NOT!)

I agree with you on the parenting thing but that is for another time/topic.

Honestly though the public articles about it are more about shock value to try and scare you to become healthier. But as many of us know and will admit on here, we know when we are overweight or obese, WE have to want to change it.

I had no idea that the insurance companies could have access to an individual's information. That's horrible.

Everytime your PCP bills an office visit it has to include diagnosis codes which are permanently stored with your information. This is part of why alot of doctors like to avoid certain diagnosis codes when running tests or all together. For example I have suffered depression for most of my life, but was lucky my parents worked for large companies where pre-existing conditions were never a concern. After I had my son I went in admitting symptoms of PPD knwoing I needed treatment. When running blood work my diagnosis was "extreme exhaustion" (which is a symptom in the depression list) because my Dr. didnt want PPD listed on my plan unless it was a definite diagnosis. Even then the medication I was on is also to treat irregular sleep cycles, which any new mother has

sarah_ep

I'm with allabtim. I find this kind of 'report' alarming. Not because of the numbers, but because the report exists and the reasons for its existence. It's very 'big brother'. And since the 'authorities' don't have a freaking clue about how to deal with it, without the response being punitive, or by offering surgery as the treatment, it's even more alarming. My first thought is usually, 'how will they persecute us next?'. There are even folks on this forum who group all parents of overweight children as 'bad parents'. How on earth do we fight the kind of prejudice and misinformation that's doled out about us on a daily basis when we can't even come to a collective, rational, informed, knowledgable understanding of our condition ourselves? You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you try to inform people with the facts while you're fat, you're dismissed. If you try to do it as a former fattie, you're dismissed, because you're no longer fat and it's assumed you've conquered the problem [not allowing for the very real reality that maintenance is a life-long battle and is as difficult, if not more so than losing weight]. It's a viscious, no-win situation. :frown:

Hollycat

It is big brotherish and the reason the CDC keeps up with it yearly now is because health insurance companies are legally allowed to charge you higher rates based on your health and BMI. Obviously for those with high amounts of muscle there is an appeals process and a way for them to determine things better for you. Companies being charged more for insurance has encourage many large companies to offer fitness programs, counseling, on site gyms, or discounted gym memberships to help save both otehr employees and the company money in the end. Other things that effect your insurance rates on a company level are the number of employees with chronic illnesses, number of minor dependants, as well as the overall cost to the insurance company last year-prior to yoru renewal. This information is now shared between insurance companies when you start shopping around for renewal rates (dont you love it? NOT!)

I agree with you on the parenting thing but that is for another time/topic.

Honestly though the public articles about it are more about shock value to try and scare you to become healthier. But as many of us know and will admit on here, we know when we are overweight or obese, WE have to want to change it.

I had no idea that the insurance companies could have access to an individual's information. That's horrible.

yeah, I do not see how they would have access to the CDC's census. Most census are anonymous, so I have a hard time believing that the CDC releases personal information to the insurance companies. Insurance companies have research departments, I am sure there are other ways to retrieve medical information.

Heatherbelle_87

I'm with allabtim. I find this kind of 'report' alarming. Not because of the numbers, but because the report exists and the reasons for its existence. It's very 'big brother'. And since the 'authorities' don't have a freaking clue about how to deal with it, without the response being punitive, or by offering surgery as the treatment, it's even more alarming. My first thought is usually, 'how will they persecute us next?'. There are even folks on this forum who group all parents of overweight children as 'bad parents'. How on earth do we fight the kind of prejudice and misinformation that's doled out about us on a daily basis when we can't even come to a collective, rational, informed, knowledgable understanding of our condition ourselves? You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you try to inform people with the facts while you're fat, you're dismissed. If you try to do it as a former fattie, you're dismissed, because you're no longer fat and it's assumed you've conquered the problem [not allowing for the very real reality that maintenance is a life-long battle and is as difficult, if not more so than losing weight]. It's a viscious, no-win situation. :frown:

Hollycat

It is big brotherish and the reason the CDC keeps up with it yearly now is because health insurance companies are legally allowed to charge you higher rates based on your health and BMI. Obviously for those with high amounts of muscle there is an appeals process and a way for them to determine things better for you. Companies being charged more for insurance has encourage many large companies to offer fitness programs, counseling, on site gyms, or discounted gym memberships to help save both otehr employees and the company money in the end. Other things that effect your insurance rates on a company level are the number of employees with chronic illnesses, number of minor dependants, as well as the overall cost to the insurance company last year-prior to yoru renewal. This information is now shared between insurance companies when you start shopping around for renewal rates (dont you love it? NOT!)

I agree with you on the parenting thing but that is for another time/topic.

Honestly though the public articles about it are more about shock value to try and scare you to become healthier. But as many of us know and will admit on here, we know when we are overweight or obese, WE have to want to change it.

I had no idea that the insurance companies could have access to an individual's information. That's horrible.

yeah, I do not see how they would have access to the CDC's census. Most census are anonymous, so I have a hard time believing that the CDC releases personal information to the insurance companies. Insurance companies have research departments, I am sure there are other ways to retrieve medical information.

I didnt say the CDC releases that information, typically the CDC doesnt even have the personal data for those topics. The INSURANCE companies retain personal data, and some can legally be shared when you are switching to a new insurance company without violating HIPAA and can be used when determining renewal rates. Youre personal data and diagnosis codes are shared between insurance companies when you have a primary and a secondary insurance. Doctors seriously can not even bill for an office visit without a diagnosis code and get paid for it. And insurance companies can request notes before payment and see everything documented for that date. Legally.

*edit: Insurances can use the CDC data to charge higher rates in certain states because obese people have higher rates of medical problems. We all cost share for others medical issues despite what many would like to think. And YES the insurance comapnies do have access to the CDC statistics, just like I did going to the CDC website, but thats all we can see, statistics that show certain states are unhealthier per capita by CDC guidelines**