The Latest Rankings of Obese and Overweight Cities in America
March is an ideal time for regions and rankings
WalletHub recently weighed in on the most overweight and obese metro areas in America.
For a long list of reasons, Americans struggle to maintain a healthy body weight. According to the NIH nearly 1 in 3 adults (30.7%) are overweight, and more than 2 in 5 adults (42.4%) are obese.
If we’re looking at a national map, one region dominates the top ten. There’s something about southern cooking. Taking the top spot is the south Texas metroplex of McAllen-Edinburg-Mission. As for the remaining top ten metros, three were in Tennessee (Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga), two were in Alabama (Mobile, Birmingham), while Jackson Mississippi, Little Rock Arkansas, Shreveport Louisiana, Birmingham Alabama, and Columbia South Carolina round off the top ten.
Overweight and obesity are calculated using a height to weight formula called the body mass index, a BMI over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 is obese. WalletHub used three broad categories in calculating their rankings. Like their analysis on unhappiest cities, WalletHub commissioned six experts, most of whom hold PhDs in a health, nutrition, or wellness discipline.
