OBESITY: WHERE THE FAT IS

Wisconsin is NOT at the top of the list of the states with the fattest populations.

Obesity rates in adults starting with highest rate

Ranking by state

Note: 1 = Highest rate of adult obesity, 51 = lowest.

Rankings are based on combining three years of data (2004-2006) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Surveillance System to “stabilize” data for comparison purposes. States with statistically significant (p<0.05)>


1: Mississippi**
2: West Virginia*
3: Alabama
4: Louisiana
5 (tie): South Carolina** Tennessee*
7: Kentucky**
8: Arkansas
9 (tie): Indiana, Michigan* Oklahoma**
12 (tie): Missouri**, Texas
14: Georgia; 15: Ohio**
16: Alaska
17: North Carolina**
18: Nebraska**;
19: North Dakota
20 (tie): Iowa, South Dakota**
22: Wisconsin**
23 (tie): Pennsylvania, Virginia*
25 (tie): Illinois, Maryland**
27: Kansas*
28: Minnesota
29: Delaware**
30: Oregon**
31 (tie): Idaho, Washington**
33: Maine*
34: Florida**
35: Wyoming**
36: California
37: Nevada*
38 (tie): New Hampshire**, New York
40 (tie): D.C., New Jersey**;
42: New Mexico**
43: Arizona
44: Utah
45: Montana
46: Rhode Island**
47 (tie): Connecticut**, Hawaii*
49: Vermont
50: Massachusetts**
51: Colorado*

Obesity rates in children starting with highest rate

State-by-state Overweight Children Ages 10-17 Rankings

Note: 1 = Highest rate of childhood overweight, 51 = lowest. Rankings are based on the National Survey of Children’s Health, a phone survey of parents with children ages 10-17 conducted in 2003-04 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additional information about methodologies and confidence intervals are available in the report. Children with a body mass index (BMI) (a calculation based on weight and height ratios) at or above the 95th percentile for their age are considered overweight.

1: D.C.
2: West Virginia
3: Kentucky
4: Tennessee
5: North Carolina
6: Texas
7: South Carolina
8: Mississippi
9: Louisiana
10: New Mexico
11: Alabama
12 (tie): Arkansas, Georgia
14: Illinois
15 (tie) Indiana, Missouri
17: Oklahoma
18: New York
19: Delaware
20: Michigan
21: Florida
22: Ohio
23: Oregon
24: Kansas
25: Virginia
26: New Jersey
27:Massachusetts
28: Wisconsin
29 (tie) Hawaii, Maryland, Pennsylvania
32: California
33: New Hampshire
34: Maine
35: Iowa
36: Nevada
37: Connecticut
38: Arizona
39 (tie): North Dakota, South Dakota
41 (tie): Nebraska, Rhode Island
43: Vermont
44 (tie) Alaska, Montana;
46: Washington
47 (tie): Idaho, Minnesota
49: Colorado
50: Wyoming
51: Utah

The bad news: Wisconsin adults are getting fatter. The state led the country in the greatest increase of number of obese adults.

The good news: Twenty-one states have fatter populations than Wisconsin.

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

Wisconsin was about average. The state had the 22nd highest rate of adult obesity, at 24.5 percent. It had 28th highest rate of childhood obesity, at 13.5 percent.

More people exercise in Wisconsin than the national average, the report said.

Take note late night comedians.

Update your punchlines.