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Report: Georgia Among Fattest States in Nation

WalletHub

The holiday season kicks off next week, November is National Diabetes Awareness Month and Americans spend almost $200 billion a year on obesity-related health costs.

The personal finance website WalletHub recently released its report on 2019’s Fattest States in America, which also included Washington D.C. Unfortunately, Georgia is among the nation’s heavyweights. Analyst Jill Gonzalez tells us how the Peach State fared.

“Georgia is in the top half here, not a list that you want to be closer to the top,” Gonzalez said. “It ranked 19th out of all 50 states, so obviously some room for improvement here.”

The U.S. weight loss and diet control market was valued at $72 billion in 2018. The Physical Activity Council reports that more than 82 million Americans aged 6 and older were completely inactive in 2018. Gonzalez says analysts considered several factors to compile that list.

“We looked at the prevalence of obesity, and the share of the overweight population from state to state as well as health consequences. Things like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and finally food and fitness, making sure states have access to healthy food and looking at physical activity levels.”   

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than seven in 10 U.S. adults aged 20 and older are either overweight or obese. The fattest state was Mississippi, while Utah was at the bottom of the list at number 51.

To view entire report.

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