# We're From The South, And We're Fat: Latest Report on Obesity By State **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820 "2010-07-15T19:35:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/41 "2010-07-16T16:14:45Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Good explanation What is that link supposed to be a good explanation of, or did you post the wrong one? ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/42 "2010-07-16T16:21:02Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I [and Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States) disagree. Concur. I must say that practically everyone I know here in Okie consider themselves in the ‘South’. And that I see far, far more obese persons (up to and including ‘morbidly’) here than in TX and ID, by far (maybe even combined?). Not the best cross-section, obviously, but can give a general feel. In my neighborhood’s block, I can say that of the 6 homes I can see from my driveway, 4 of them have folks that are _definitely_ over ~250-300# with a few barely able to walk easily. Really sad, actually, but that’s just me. Working in hospitals, first in Central Tx, then up in Central/Southern Idaho, for a decade or so, I got accustomed to ‘average’ size patients with the occasional ‘BiGBoy’. Moving to OK ~2000 and then working the hospitals here shocked me as the many persons often weighed too much to use a typical X-ray table. Usually, at least once per shift but often repeatedly, a nurse would call and ask about weight-limits, etc, and where they could schedule a patient that exceeded limits (usually around 350-400 lbs for an average X-Ray/CT table, and that was risky for parts busting off anyways). One 8hr shift had every single patient outweighing the machine’s limits, so made that day easy, but not surprising. Just sayin’… ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/43 "2010-07-16T16:35:18Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > NSFW link. [Good explanation](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_q4Z2IcWvPl0/TCwdwhDsUbI/AAAAAAAAFZk/6NromVx0lio/s1600/can2.jpg) So the relative ease of viewing masturbation porn has contributed to obesity? “Back in \*my \*day, we had to climb trees to get a view like that.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/44 "2010-07-16T16:58:24Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I hate to ask because it sounds snarky, but you are familiar with averages, right? OK, I’ll bite. This may just be a colossal brain fart, but how does it work that 34% of the US population is obese, but the highest state obesity rate is 33.8%? I can’t figure out any way to make that math work. Or am I misreading the numbers? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/45 "2010-07-16T17:05:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. This may just be a colossal brain fart, but how does it work that 34% of the US population is obese, but the highest state obesity rate is 33.8%? I can’t figure out any way to make that math work. Or am I misreading the numbers? Actually, I think it was a brain fart on my part. I read **Electric Warrior** ’s post differently than you did. Your restatement here makes a lot more sense. And off the top of my head, I don’t actually have an answer. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/46 "2010-07-16T17:23:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. This may just be a colossal brain fart, but how does it work that 34% of the US population is obese, but the highest state obesity rate is 33.8%? I can’t figure out any way to make that math work. Or am I misreading the numbers? It could be that nationally 34 percent of people are OVERWEIGHT or OBESE. In the heftyiest state, 34 percent of the people in that state are actually OBESE. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/47 "2010-07-16T17:49:16Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > It could be that nationally 34 percent of people are OVERWEIGHT or OBESE. > > In the heftyiest state, 34 percent of the people in that state are actually OBESE. Could be. But this is what the link says: > [@](#): > > The rise of obesity has been stunningly rapid. As recently as 1980, just 15 percent of adults were heavy enough to be defined as obese. By 2008, however, the rate had hit 34 percent. Now, those are 2008 numbers, and this is seemingly a 2010 report they’re referencing for the individual states, so it looks like these two numbers have different sources. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/48 "2010-07-16T19:25:03Z")
What do you expect so many people down there make grease into gravy? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/49 "2010-07-16T19:38:22Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > What do you expect so many people down there make grease into gravy? That’s nothing compared to the way people in Winnipeg turn one question and one statement into a mass of gibberish. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/50 "2010-07-16T19:56:29Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Hey, Florida is not too bad. But some would argue that we’re not in “the south”. I agree. Maybe people in the southern peninsula swim laps or something. > [@Mr.Accident](#): > > Heh, Georgia is only #17. I expected we’d be a higher on that list. I really did, too. We are in northern Florida, twenty minutes from the Georgia state line, and there are many chubby people around here (from both states.) Lots of sweet tea and fried foods ingested around here. When I go to the grocery store, I am surrounded by squadrons of shoppers on electric scooters. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/51 "2010-07-16T20:12:38Z")
> [@Caprese](#): > > I agree. Maybe people in the southern peninsula swim laps or something. > I really did, too. > We are in northern Florida, twenty minutes from the Georgia state line, and there are many chubby people around here (from both states.) > Lots of sweet tea and fried foods ingested around here. When I go to the grocery store, I am surrounded by squadrons of shoppers on electric scooters. I think you’re forgetting that the vast majority of Georgia’s population is comprised of people in the metro Atlanta area. Those people you saw in Valdosta aren’t particularly representative of the average Georgian. That ranking looks about right to me. ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/52 "2010-07-16T20:21:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Now, those are 2008 numbers, and this is seemingly a 2010 report they’re referencing for the individual states, so it looks like these two numbers have different sources. > > Or something. That’s correct, the nationwide rate and the individual state rates come from different sources. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/53 "2010-07-16T20:57:26Z")
> [@conway](#): > > That’s correct, the nationwide rate and the individual state rates come from different sources. That’s a significant difference, and it annoys me when news sources present numbers that are not directly comparable in this way. Just at a glance, taking into account the most populous states, it looks like given those state numbers, the national obesity rate should be around 28%-29%. So, given those numbers, I might reasonably conclude that obesity is actually on a downswing, if you compare the 2008 national number with what presumably the 2010 national number is (and which can be figured out, if the news source had the time to get out a calculator.) ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/54 "2010-07-16T21:48:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s a significant difference, and it annoys me when news sources present numbers that are not directly comparable in this way. Just at a glance, taking into account the most populous states, it looks like given those state numbers, the national obesity rate should be around 28%-29%. So, given those numbers, I might reasonably conclude that obesity is actually on a downswing, if you compare the 2008 national number with what presumably the 2010 national number is (and which can be figured out, if the news source had the time to get out a calculator.) That may be true. But in order to compare the states they use three years data, so for the 2010 report they used 2007-2009 data. Because of that methodology, they can’t just add up the percentages and divide by 51. The latest nationwide data they have is from 2008. The write up is certainly confusing.. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/55 "2010-07-16T21:56:44Z")
Woot! #3! Suck it, West Virginia! ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/56 "2010-07-16T22:54:56Z")
> [@Ann\_Onimous](#): > > This made me smile. 🙂 It were supposed to! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/57 "2010-07-16T23:25:46Z")
Jesus Christ, I don’t know that happened. I posted from the computer at my job, too. Guess someone was having some fun last night… Intended link: [http://www.halls.md/bmi/nhanes3.htm](http://www.halls.md/bmi/nhanes3.htm) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/58 "2010-07-16T23:29:46Z")
> [@conway](#): > > Because of that methodology, they can’t just add up the percentages and divide by 51. The latest nationwide data they have is from 2008. The write up is certainly confusing.. Not to mention the fact you need to weigh (heh) the percentage values for each state by the states population as well. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/59 "2010-07-16T23:36:37Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I’m going to be generous and assume that link was _not_ intended to be a porno pic. > > That aside, did you look at the CDC link? The map is only tracking those who have a BMI over 30, and there’s no indication that changed from year to year. It was not supposed to be porno! Surprised me almost as much as it surprised you (I saw that it has been spoilerized). My apologies, should have double-checked my post. I don’t think you’re correct about your cite. In the text above the maps it defines obesity as a BMI above 30. In the maps, it simply shows the prevalence of “obesity” by decade. “Obesity” as a concept has varied a lot over the last few decades years, and the data has not been adjusted to reflect this. I don’t doubt we’re getting fatter as a population, I just don’t think it’s quite as extreme as we’re led to believe. Adults have put on around 20lbs on average across the population since the 60s - a noticeable change, but nothing crazy IMO. Average heights have also increased by an inch since then. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820/60 "2010-07-17T07:10:39Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > It was not supposed to be porno! Surprised me almost as much as it surprised you (I saw that it has been spoilerized). My apologies, should have double-checked my post. No worries, I’ve done it before myself. :o > [@](#): > > I don’t think you’re correct about your cite. In the text above the maps it defines obesity as a BMI above 30. In the maps, it simply shows the prevalence of “obesity” by decade. “Obesity” as a concept has varied a lot over the last few decades years, and the data has not been adjusted to reflect this. I think you’re focusing on the wrong word. The trend map isn’t showing the percentage of people who were considered obese in 1985, those who were obese in 1986, then in 1987, etc., according to the definition of the word at the time. It’s showing the percentage of people who were over 30 BMI in 1985, people who were over 30 BMI in 1986, over 30 in 1987, etc. The cutoff line is static and the percentage of people over it is unmistakably climbing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-from-the-south-and-were-fat-latest-report-on-obesity-by-state/546820.md?page=4)