Mississippi - Still the Fattest State

How shocking (4.00 / 3)

Even in the skinniest state, well over half the people are overweight. So it's not as if "Hey, let's all be like Colorado!" is a even good goal.

I don't think you have to be a statistician to surmise that poverty has something to do with the problem.

Just looking at the map, I can't help wondering if altitude is a factor. Weird.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." --Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food

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by: Anne Hawley @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 16:52:07 PM UTC

I imagine it is less altitude (4.00 / 4)

than culture-- in Colorado, and Montana where I live (also a skinny state, and you notice when you look around at the people), there is a lot of emphasis on outdoorsy-ness and consequently exercise.  In my daughter's public elementary school, they have three recesses a day and gym 3 times a week.  Partly it is because we have the freedom-- the safety and the space-- to get outside and enjoy the outdoors.

That said, I kind of wish for less focus on obesity, which is a subject which-- rightly or wrongly-- brings a personal sense of shame to many people.  There are so many other aspects of food-related health to focus on, pertaining to our bodies, our communities, and the land; and improved health in many other parameters would naturally lead to a decrease in obesity without putting individuals, and states, under the microscope.

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by: cherryriver @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 18:28:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wise words (4.00 / 2)

I agree completely about the focus on obesity per se. I see obesity as a symptom (of overall metabolic disease), and a subsequent cause (of all the myriad health problems it does cause) rather than as a disease in itself.

But regardless, shame takes us nowhere except backwards and down.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." --Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food

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by: Anne Hawley @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 20:20:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

so true (0.00 / 0)

I've become SO much more active since moving to SD because I can hike all year round. In WI, I biked to work for half the year and went on tons of long bike rides. I lost a bunch of weight too. But that was just HALF the year - not ALL the year. I hibernated during the cold months.

I'd love to bike more in SD but it's just not safe to do so. At least, I couldn't bike to work. Yes roads have bike lanes but tell me how you can get around SanDiego in any meaningful way by using roads and not freeways.

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by: OrangeClouds115 @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 22:39:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm in Michigan (#10 on the list) and I think one factor here (4.00 / 4)

is that a lot of places aren't very pedestrian friendly (a sizable percentage of our population is in the Metro Detroit area). Our larger cities don't have much in the way of public transit so people tend to drive everywhere. Even in my suburb, there are areas where sidewalks are either non-existent or rather infrequent. I'd be very nervous crossing some of our busier highways on foot or on a bike because of the way people drive.

I'm lucky that I live in a big neighborhood, so I have plenty of places to walk, but I know other people who have to get in their car and drive somewhere else if they want to walk without risking getting hit by a car.

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by: a girl in MI @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 20:07:42 PM UTC

Who EVER thought it was a good idea (4.00 / 4)

to build streets without sidewalks?

I can remember some life-threatening walks in parts of Portland that were far too close to the city center to justify acting like carburbs. Happily, it's getting better.

Simply having sidewalks wherever people live would go a good ways toward encouraging some modicum of exercise.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." --Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food

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by: Anne Hawley @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 20:25:05 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Obesity and Food Insecurity Related (0.00 / 0)

The poorest states are often the fattest states and it has very little to do with lifestyle choices and everything to do with only being able to afford cheap, unhealthy food - mostly processed protein like chicken McNuggets.  Poor people basically consume more calories of cheap food because their bodies are trying to overcome malnutrition from this food.

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by: The Grey Rider @ Wed Jul 16, 2008 at 14:40:04 PM UTC