‘The Biggest Loser’ and Georgia’s obesity problem

That's why I wasn't surprised when five Georgians were picked to compete in the most recent season of NBC's "The Biggest Loser." One of them, Colby Wright, a car salesman from K'Ville, a town in South Georgia, will compete for the show's top title this Monday.

Nearly one-third of adults in the Peach State are obese, recent data from the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows.

Not surprisingly, seven of the 10 states with the highest obesity rates are in the South – where people are more likely to be poorer, less educated and uninsured. (In case you were wondering, Arkansas happens to hold the ignominious title of the nation’s fattest state.)

Overall, obesity rates have remained fairly steady in most states over the past year. But they remain dangerously high, nonetheless.

Here are a few more Georgia facts from the study:

“The Biggest Loser” may be entertaining, sure. It is also a glaring reminder of an epidemic that is costing our nation billions of dollars every year. And, more important, it is putting tens of millions of American lives – and the quality of those lives – at risk.

Obesity puts an estimated 78 million Americans at increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other deadly illnesses that kill us too early. (Georgia has the 10th highest rate of diabetes in the nation.)

Indeed, obesity is much more than just a game to entertain us.