Fattest states in the country: The south tipping the scales

This 17-year-old girl stands on a scale during her weekly weigh-in at the Wellspring Academy in Reedley, California. Struggling with her weight, she enrolled at the Wellspring Academy, a special school that helps teens and college level students lose weight while getting an education.

Credit: Justin Sullivan

Credit: Justin Sullivan

This 17-year-old girl stands on a scale during her weekly weigh-in at the Wellspring Academy in Reedley, California. Struggling with her weight, she enrolled at the Wellspring Academy, a special school that helps teens and college level students lose weight while getting an education.

A new ranking of states with the highest obesity rates finds the south is tipping the scales.

The states that took the top five spots were mostly in the Southeast: Mississippi, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana, according to WalletHub.

Not surprisingly, many of those same states ranked in the top five for having the highest percentage of adults with high cholesterol and inactivity.

While, Florida came in around the middle of the pack for fattest states in America, at No. 23, it did rank in third place for having the highest percentage of overweight children, the study found.

According to the Centers for Disease and Control, seven out of every 10 American adults are overweight, and almost 40 percent are obese.

The state with the leanest, low-fat ranking: Colorado.

Analysts from WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 19 metrics, including the percentage of obese and overweight people, sugary-beverage consumption among adolescents  and obesity-related health care costs.

>> Related: Tips on how to prevent obesity 

Read the full report here.