That's Fit

Mississippi takes top honors once again in the fattest-state contest, according to the results of a 2007 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The state has had the highest obesity rates every year since 2004.

While Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Louisiana are not far behind, Mississippi is the one with 30 percent of its adults tipping the scales at obese levels. Perhaps it's because the South has a lot of rural residents and black women -- both groups tend to have higher rates of obesity -- or because the typical Southern diet is rich in fatty and fried foods. Perhaps the results of this study are not entirely accurate -- it was conducted over the phone and not with actual weigh-ins.

Colorado wins for least obese state -- 19 percent of adults here are considered obese -- mostly because of its healthy and active communities. Skiing, biking, and hiking apparently keep Colorado folks moving.

Where does your state place? According to this CDC site, my state of Florida is 24.1 percent obese. Plug your state in here, choose the year '2007' and the category 'Overweight and Obesity (BMI)' and see how it compares.

Two-and-a-half years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and parts of Mississippi, those displaced by the storm are being moved again -- this time because of high levels of formaldehyde in their temporary homes. Travel trailers provided by FEMA have tested positive for the carcinogen, and in some cases the levels are high enough to cause breathing trouble in those without respiratory issues.

People currently living in the trailers will be moved to hotels, apartments, and in studier mobile homes. It's not clear whether the formaldehyde issue is a problem in the FEMA trailers alone, or in travel trailers in general. Either way, FEMA is discontinuing use of travel trailers for emergency housing.

After Hurricane Katrina, 144,000 trailers were used to place victims of the storm. Currently, there nearly 36,000 trailers in use in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Imagine heading out to dinner with your partner or family, only to be asked to step on a scale and then turned away because you're BMI is over 30. That's what eating out in Mississippi might be like if Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr. gets his bill passed. The bill would require that people who are obese, as defined by the state, be banned from being served in restaurants. It would also require that restaurant owners keep records of customers BMIs.

According to Junkfood Science, Mayhall authored the bill in all seriousness, although he doesn't believe it will pass. Claiming the "need for government action" in response to the obesity crisis, Mayhall apparently believes that shame and embarrassment will help people take better care of their health.

I think this falls squarely in the "they can't be serious" category. What do you think?

Our health care system is at risk of bleeding to death. With so much attention paid to reactionary care, as opposed to preventative care, major illnesses and diseases that could have been dealt with at their earliest stages (when they would have cost the least to treat) are instead treated when complications arise, which is typically the stage when treatment is most costly. This is why it is paramount that the government take decisive action to stop, or at least reduce, the obesity problem in this country.

Having just posted on the possibility of viruses causing people to gain weight, I think it's pretty clear that my stance on this matter is certainly not Anti-Fat. In fact, I think it rather unfair to blame, ridicule and castigate people merely because they carry more weight than others. That being said, there is little disputing the fact that extremely overweight people run a much higher risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and many other chronic illnesses -- all of which are, just as unarguably, very expensive to treat. And, based on the recently Trust for America's Health annual report on the status of obesity in this country, it doesn't look like things are getting any better (serving to explain why we recieved an "F").

Since last year, obesity rates climbed in 31 states. Worse yet, not a single state witnessed a decrease in obesity rates. Thirty percent of people living in Mississippi are overweight, making it the fattest state in the country. The report also stated that most states in the South and Midwest have obesity rates over 25 percent. Furthermore, in these regions, about 30 percent of people admit to not engaging in any exercise program whatsoever, which clearly correlates with the obesity rates.

Given the fact that around $35 billion was spent by consumers last year on weight loss-related products and services, yet the aforementioned numbers persist, it's clear that the general public is dropping the ball. It's time that the government stepped to the plate on this issue before it completely cripples our health care system.

Vermont's been voted the healthiest state in the US, according to this article from WebMD. Vermont took the 2007 title from Minnesota, last year's healthiest state. What's the least healthy state? Mississippi. Surprised? I'm not. Here's what sets Vermont apart from the rest of the states:

• The number of smokers in the state have dropped
• The number of people with health insurance has risen
• They have the highest percentage of children who are immunized.
  

How did your state rank?

In a rather unfortunate turn of events for the residents of Mississippi, recent rankings have put them at the top of the charts in a particularly unflattering category. According to Trust for America's Health, they're the fattest state in the nation.

While it's easy to poke fun at the state that receives this dubious honor, these statistics reveal a serious problem. More than 30 percent of Mississippians are considered obese (contrasted with Colorado, the leanest state, where the obesity rate is only 17 percent) -- meaning that the state sees more cases of diabetes, heart disease and other weight-related ailments than other parts of the country, and incurs the incredibly high costs associated with treating these conditions.

To make matters worse, it's a difficult trend to reverse. According to the chair of the state's Public Health Committee, greasy, fried, "fatback" foods are very popular, and when you add the fact that more than 30 percent of Mississippi residents don't engage in any kind of physical exercise (the national average is 22 percent), you can start to see how the state earned its number one ranking.

Hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call. By the sounds of it, the state could use a little kick in pants.

According to a nationwide survey of over 356,000 adults, Mississippi has a higher number of strokes than any other state. The results are based on a phone survey where participants were simply asked if they had ever been told by a doctor that they had had a stroke, and it didn't include people living in nursing homes or institutions. Oklahoma and Washington tied for 2nd place, and Louisiana rounds out 3rd place. The state with the fewest strokes? Connecticut.

The study also gathered some other interesting facts, such as fewer than half of stroke patients make it to the hospital within 2 hours of the onset of symptoms, and that the rates of strokes for men and women are roughly the same.