LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) — Bad news, Kentucky: We aren’t getting any thinner.
According to the CDC, more than 7 in 10 adults age 20 and older are either overweight or obese. Nationally, the United States spends nearly $200 billion in annual health care costs related to obesity and findings from the Physical Activity Council say that 82.4 million Americans were completely inactive in 2017.
However, some states struggle with weight issues more than others – and Kentucky is one of them. In WalletHub’s “Fattest States in America” report for 2018, Kentucky ranked 4th, climbing back into the Top 5 after dropping to #6 in 2017.
Source: WalletHub
In the report, WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 25 key metrics in 3 dimensions: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence, Health Consequences, and Food and Fitness. Overall, only Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas ranked higher than Kentucky. Colorado earned the lowest score in the survey.
Kentucky made the Top 10 in a series of specific categories:
-5th highest percentage of obese adults
-4th highest percentage of obese children
-7th highest percentage of physically inactive adults
-4th highest percentage of adults with high cholesterol
-8th highest percentage of adults eating less than 1 serving of fruits/vegetables per day
-7th highest percentage of adults with Type 2 Diabetes
-6th highest percentage of adults with Hypertension
Louisville and Lexington both made WalletHub’s 2018 list of “Fattest Cities in America” back in March.
Indiana was just shy of the Top 10 in WalletHub’s state report – ranking 11th.
To read the full WalletHub report, click here.
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