States Ranked by Percent Obese Highlights Pervasive Negative Trend

A recent report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America’s Health detailed recent trends in the prevalence of obesity in the United States. Across the nation, the percent of the population has increased state-by-state over the 2008 to 2010 period:

Nine of the ten states in the South have the highest obesity rates in America, while those in the West and Northeast have the lowest. For seven years running, Mississippi is in first place. The only state with an obesity rate of less than 20% is Colorado.

Moreover, a startling and negative trend is that, twenty years ago, there were no states with an obesity rate over 15%.

Average obesity rates per state, 2008 to end of 2010 average percentage. In brackets, percentage change over that three-year period:

Mississippi 34.4% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 1
Alabama 32.3% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 2
West Virginia 32.2% (% rise 1.1) Ranking 3
Tennessee 31.9% (% rise 1.2) Ranking 4
Louisiana 31.6% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 5
Louisiana 31.6% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 5
Kentucky 31.5% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 6
Oklahoma 31.4% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 7
South Carolina 30.9% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 8
Arkansas 30.6% (% rise 1.2) Ranking 9
Michigan 30.5% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 10
Missouri 30.3% (% rise 1.2) Ranking 11
Texas 30.1% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 12
Ohio 29.6% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 13
North Carolina 29.4% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 14
Indiana 29.1% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 15
Kansas 29.0% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 16
Georgia 28.7% (% rise 1.1) Ranking 17
South Dakota 28.7% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 17
Pennsylvania 28.5% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 19
Iowa 28.1% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 20
Delaware 28.0% (% rise 1.2) Ranking 21
North Dakota 28.0% (% rise 1.1) Ranking 21
Illinois 27.7% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 23
Nebraska 27.6% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 24
Wisconsin 27.4% (% rise 1.1) Ranking 25
Maryland 27.1% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 26
Maine 26.5% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 27
Washington 26.4% (% rise 0.5) Ranking 28
Florida 26.1% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 29
Alaska 25.9% (% rise 1.6) Ranking 30
Virginia 25.9% (% rise 1.2) Ranking 30
Idaho 25.7% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 32
New Hampshire 25.6% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 33
New Mexico 25.6% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 33
Arizona 25.4% (% rise 1.4) Ranking 35
Oregon 25.4% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 35
Wyoming 25.4% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 35
Minnesota 25.3% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 38
Nevada 25.0% (% rise 1.4) Ranking 39
California 24.8% (% rise 0.6) Ranking 40
New York 24.7% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 41
Rhode Island 24.3% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 42
New Jersey 24.1% (% rise 0.7) Ranking 43
Montana 23.8% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 44
Vermont 23.5% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 45
Utah 23.4% (% rise 0.8) Ranking 46
Hawaii 23.1% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 47
Massachusetts 22.3% (% rise 0.6) Ranking 48
Connecticut 21.8% (% rise 0.9) Ranking 49
D.C. 21.7% (% rise 1.0) Ranking 50
Colorado 19.8% (% rise 0.7) Ranking 51

“F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2011”
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America’s Health
Jeffrey Levi, PhD., Laura M. Segal, MA., Rebecca St. Laurent, JD., David Kohn, MA.

MedMarket Diligence report #S835 details the global market for products and technologies in the clinical management of obesity.

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PatrickDriscoll

I serve the interests of medical technology company decision-makers, venture-capitalists, and others with interests in medtech producing worldwide analyses of medical technology markets for my audience of mostly medical technology companies (but also rapidly growing audience of biotech, VC, and other healthcare decision-makers). I have a small staff and go to my industry insiders (or find new ones as needed) to produce detailed, reality-grounded analyses of current and potential markets and opportunities. I am principally interested in those core clinical applications served by medical devices, which are expanding to include biomaterials, drug-device hybrids and other non-device technologies either competing head-on with devices or being integrated with devices in product development. The effort and pain of making every analysis global in scope is rewarded by my audience's loyalty, since in the vast majority of cases they too have global scope in their businesses.Specialties: Business analysis through syndicated reports, and select custom engagements, on medical technology applications and markets in general/abdominal/thoracic surgery, interventional cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, patient monitoring/management, wound management, cell therapy, tissue engineering, gene therapy, nanotechnology, and others.

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