While obesity affects roughly one in 10 Americans, for Georgians, that number is much higher. According to the latest Obesity Prevalence & Comorbidity Map from NORC at the University of Chicago, at least 43% of Georgia residents land in the obesity range.
Obesity is calculated using the Body Mass Index (BMI); those who have a BMI of 30 or higher are considered obese. The index isn’t perfect — it sometimes places athletic people with higher than average muscle weight into the overweight or obese categories — but it’s still useful for making initial assessments.
Obesity can lead to physical pain, as well as stress on the spine, hips, knees and ankles. For example, an extra 10 pounds can equate to an extra 30-40 pounds of pressure on the knees.
This latest update from NORC considered all sexes, ages, races and educational backgrounds for its year-long effort to calculate the percentage of the population living with obesity.
According to the chart, the lowest rates of obesity are found in Washington, D.C.; Colorado; and Massachusetts — at 33%, 34% and 35% respectively— while the states with the highest rates West Virginia and Mississippi — both at 51%.
According to NORC, “Millions of children and adults in the United States are living with the chronic, complex, and treatable disease of obesity.”
A report from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that obesity-related medical care accounted for $172.74 billion in annual medical spending.
