Sunday, July 18, 2010

State Obesity Rankings

I recently read an article that ranked the 51 states (D.C. was in there) for obesity levels in the United States.  Mississippi was the worse; Colorado the best.  Arizona was 29th.

I don't get it..was there a contest that I missed?  And how did they get this info?  Did they go house to house, like the Census and ask people to weigh themselves, or did they count the number of pudgy kids or adults per square mile?  Maybe they asked people to pick Jenny Craig out of a line-up and if they couldn't...well, you know that is sign of something.

Now, the part that is most confusing is what are the people in the "fat" states supposed to do with this information?    Move?  Talk to their neighbors?  Go on Tyra Banks' show?  Have neighborhood weigh ins?
Get rid of McDonalds, Burger King or Chicken City?

Okay I know that it is good to eat healthy, exercise and be aware of what you feed your children, but I don't think ranking states is really going to promote this.  In fact, some people in Mississippi may even be proud that they came in as the worst state for obesity.   Who knows?

So, if you live in a "skinny state"-- whoopee!  If you live in "fat states" -- now you know.  And if you live somewhere inbetween, welcome to the world of competition.