The Fattening Up of America

All you have to do is walk through any shopping mall and you know people are getting heavier. A lot heavier. But one state can lay claim to something no state wants: West Virginia has the highest obesity rate in the country with 33.5 percent of its residents considered obese. Compare that to Colorado, which has the lowest obesity rate with just 18.7 percent of its citizens heavy enough to be labeled obese. That's the word from a Gallup-Healthways survey.

The top 10 states with the highest obesity rates and the percentage of residents who are obese:

1. West Virginia: 33.5 percent
2. Mississippi: 32.2 percent
3. Arkansas: 31.4 percent
4. Louisiana: 30.9 percent
5. Alabama: 30.4 percent
6. Kentucky: 29.7 percent
7. Tennessee: 29.6 percent
8. Ohio: 29.5 percent
9. Oklahoma: 29.2 percent
10. Iowa: 29 percent

Top 10 states with the lowest obesity rates and the percentage of residents who are obese:

1. Colorado: 18.7 percent
2. Massachusetts: 21.5 percent
3. Montana: 21.5 percent
4. Connecticut: 22.7 percent
5. California: 23.1 percent
6. Utah: 23.9 percent
7. Arizona: 24.1 percent
8. Rhode Island: 24.3 percent
9. Idaho, New Jersey, Washington (tie): 24.4 percent