Where Is Childhood Obesity a Major Problem?

The United States is well stocked with obese children. This is a quick, unfortunate look at how the states are faring when it comes to obese children and teens. The numbers are not great so skip this if you don’t want to feel down about our country’s future. This is the skinny on America’s weight problem, according to this article:

Nationwide, nearly 16% of kids ages 10 to 17 have obesity, according to a report released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and based on data from the 2016-2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). But rates varied significantly from state to state, ranging from Mississippi’s 26.1% to Utah’s 8.7%.

So as you can see, Mississippi is the worst, while Utah, maybe surprisingly, is the best when it comes to children who are overweight. Here are the rest of the bottom and top, from the same article:

Eight of the 10 states with the highest youth obesity rates are located in the South, the data shows: Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Iowa. (Ohio and Iowa, at numbers six and 10, were the outliers.) Meanwhile, nine of the 10 states with the lowest rates — all but number-four Minnesota — are in the West or Northeast: Utah, New Hampshire, Washington state, Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon, Connecticut, Montana and North Dakota.

Of course, even the best states could get more active. So if you have someone at home who would rather play Fortnight than run around outside, see what you can do to change that situation. Or perhaps cut back on the soda and cookies.

-Shane M.