America’s Fattest States – 2009

Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity at 32.5 percent, making it the fifth year in a row that the state topped the list. Colorado continued to have the lowest percentage of obese adults at 18.9 percent.

Mississippi also had the highest rate of obese and overweight children (ages 10 to 17) at 44.4 percent. Minnesota and Utah had the lowest rate at 23.1 percent.

According to this report, Eight of the 10 states with the highest rates of obese and overweight children are in the South. Adult obesity rates now exceed 25 percent in 31 states and exceed 20 percent in 49 states and Washington, D.C. Two-thirds of American adults are either obese or overweight.