Photo: Lee Carson, Flickr

By now, you've probably heard that Mississippi is (once again) the fattest state -- for five years running. And Colorado is holding tight to its status as the leanest state. But where does your state rank? Odds are, your state's obesity rate is climbing -- all in all, 23 states got fatter this year. Some more facts to consider:

• Four states have over 30 percent obesity. Mississippi tops the charts with 32.5 percent. But Alabama, West Virginia and Tennessee follow close behind with 31.2 percent, 31.1 percent and 30.2 percent, respectively.
• Baby boomers in Alabama are the heaviest for their demographic, but Michigan boomers are close runners-up.
• While only four states have adult obesity rates over 30 percent, 21 states have childhood obesity rates over 30 percent.

Considering that not one state reported an improvement in obesity rates, it's not surprising that this year's report by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was titled F as in Fat. The report states that the economic crunch we're experiencing could make obesity rates even worse.

It's all kind of depressing actually. But That's Fit readers know that while the government types sort out any policies that can be put in place to help this growing obesity crisis, we can all take responsibility for our own health. After all, you are the biggest influence in your own health. Start taking steps to achieve a healthy weight today.

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While our health is largely reliant on the effort we put into it -- eating healthfully, exercising regularly, and getting proper medical care -- our environment can make a big impact on our health. Economic considerations and the structure of a city are just two components that can affect health.

The CDC does an annual health survey that asks city residents to rate their overall health as excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. And while the CDC itself doesn't (quote-unquote) rank cities based on their surveys, their database does order the cities based on the results.

When all self-reported ratings are considered, Lincoln, Nebraska gets top honors -- 92.8% of residents state their health is good or better. Huntington, West Virginia comes in last on the 184-city list -- nearly half of the adults in Huntington are obese, but the mayor (who recently lost 80 pounds) says that the city's economic woes are of greater focus.

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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.

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