South Carolina: Still Fat

South Carolina ranks fifth in the nation in adult obesity – with 29.7% of the state’s adult residents qualifying as overweight.

That ranking is unchanged from two years ago, but the number of obese South Carolinians continues to creep higher. In 2004, South Carolina ranked 13th in the nation with a 24.5% obesity rate. Two years ago, we ranked fifth in the nation with a 27.8% obesity rate.

In addition to its girth problem, the Palmetto State is also in the “top ten” in adult hypertension rates (31.3 %) and diabetes rates (9.8%) -ranking sixth and eighth in the nation, respectively.

Also, 33.7% of South Carolina children are obese – ranking the state 13th nationally.

All of these numbers come from a new report – “F as in Fat 2009″ – released jointly by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood  Johnson Foundation.

America’s fattest state? Mississippi – for the third year in a row.

In fact, eight of the nation’s ten fattest states (South Carolina included) are in the deep South, where we’re not very bright and where we fry pretty much everything.

Nationally, the numbers show that America has a growing waistline problem.

In 1991, not a single state had an obesity rate above 20%. Today, only one state – Colorado – has a rate below 20%.

A total of 31 states have obesity rates of 25% or higher.

WEB EXTRAS

Trust For Americas Health

South Carolina Report Card

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