The Trust for American Health came out with its F as in Fat report for 2010 this month, including an interactive map showing obesity rates in the 50 states and DC. I was primarily interested in Georgia and South Carolina, since I live right on the border of those two states, and Kentucky, since that’s where I’m from. A few observations:
Kentucky is 7th in adult obesity at 30.5%. South Carolina is 9th at 29.4%, and Georgia is 17th at 28.1%. Not really a huge percentage difference between Georgia and Kentucky.
Georgia is 2nd in childhood obesity at 21.3%; Kentucky is 3rd at 21%; and South Carolina is 22nd at 18.6% (interesting!).
The worst place to live in the US in terms of obesity is apparently Mississippi; they’re number one in both adult (33.8%) and childhood (21.9%) obesity. Colorado’s the best for adult obesity (19.1%) and Oregon’s the best for childhood obesity (9.6%).
The report also notes that obesity rates increased in 28 states since 2009, and only went down in Washington, DC.
According to Google Health, a BMI of 25-30 is overweight; 30-40 is obese; and 40+ is morbidly obese. For giggles (well, not really) I plugged a few of my historical weights into the BMI formula.
When I was in high school, I weighed around 150 lbs. That’s a BMI of 26.56, meaning I was overweight.
In college, I hit the 200 mark, a BMI of 35.55. Welcome to obesity.
Right now, I weigh 245 lbs, giving me a morbidly obese BMI of 43.36. How nice!
My highest weight ever recorded was 266–obviously I was morbidly obese then, too, with a BMI of 47.27.
In 2008, I got down to 215 lbs. That’s a BMI of 38.28. I remember congratulating myself at the time for getting out of the morbidly obese range.
It would be nice if someday I could attain a healthy weight. I’ve long considered my goal weight to be 138. If I hit that, I’ll be at a BMI of 24.61, just below the 25 cutoff. But seeing as I have over 100 pounds between me and that goal, I’m not sure when or if it will ever happen.
Edit: Lots of people are talking about the report. I enjoyed this analysis of obesity from a supply and demand perspective from Smart Planet.
BMI is a good tool but I think it has to be taken with a grain of salt. I suppose it depends on your build of course, but an NFL quarterback who was 6’3″ and weighs 220 lbs would be considered “overweight” per the BMI chart, since it doesn’t take muscle mass into account. I’m not saying it’s worthless, but it’s only one tool for measurement…I think body fat percentage is a more valuable tool by far.
That’s probably true, but it’s harder to get that number!
Besides, I’m not a super athlete with mega muscles…I’m a 5’3″ regular person who doesn’t exercise much. (Though I am trying to change that, I’ve never had a consistent exercise routine.) So I think for me BMI is probably pretty accurate.
It’s tough, keep at at it! As one of the “fluffy” persuasion (go look up Gabriel Iglesias for the reference) I can tell you how difficult it can be. BMI is alright for what it does, but its an average taken over what might not be an average distribution. What I’m saying is that don’t be upset if you are EXACTLY what the BMI chart says you should be. Rather, measure by how you feel, how good you think you look, and how much more energy you have.
I need to proof read before I hit submit more often.