Most major cities are known for their signature foods and go-to restaurants, but all of that good eating (and lack of) may be contributing to the latest statistics of the nation’s most obese residents.
A new survey, conducted by analysts from WalletHub for National Nutrition Month, compared 100 U.S. metro cities on key areas like “percentage of physically inactive adults” and “percentage of adults eating fewer than one serving of fruits or vegetables per day” among others in order to “identify those where weight-related problems call for heightened attention.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites that more than a third of U.S. adults were obese in 2012 (latest numbers). Nearly 58 percent of African American women 20 years and over were obese during the period 2009 – 2012, and 37.9 percent of African American men in the same age group were obese in that period.
WalletHub writes:
By one estimate, Americans spend up to $315.8 billion annually on obesity-related medical treatment, elevating health-care costs exponentially for obese adults and children compared with healthier individuals. In the workplace, obesity-related health issues yield indirect costs to the worker and employer alike. Absenteeism, for one, results in lost wages and reduced productivity. If obesity trends continue at their current rate, treatment costs could rise as much as $66 billion a year and annual productivity losses by up to $580 billion by 2030.
The ‘Fattest’ metro area rankings are based on the “Overall Rank” score, which includes all survey indicators. An “Overall Rank” of “1” is the ‘fattest’ area.
Take a look at the Top 10 areas on the list and see what put them there. For the full list of 100, click here.
As for the ‘thinnest’ place to live? It looks like Hawaii has one more winning reason for a visit.