California
These states have the highest obesity rates: See how California ranked
People on the boardwalk at Santa Monica State Beach in Santa Monica, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – If you’re wondering which state apparently has the highest obesity rate in the U.S., look no further than West Virginia, according to a new study analyzing obesity rates in America.
In the Mountain State, 51.05% of its population lives with at least category I obesity, meaning they have a Body Mass index (BMI) of 30 or above.
That’s according to a study by online fitness resource Total Shape, which analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data sets, which were then pooled into a 3-year group (2019-2021) and analyzed.
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Mississippi ranked second (51.02%), Alabama came in third (49.85%), and Oklahoma ranked fourth (49.52%). Arkansas rounded out the top five (48.79%).
Colorado was the state with the lowest rate of obesity, with 34.06% of its population living with obesity.
California also ranked among states with a low rate of obesity, placing 45th on this list. By comparison, Colorado was dead last at No. 50.