BOSTON (WHDH) - Two New England states landed on WalletHub’s “Fattest States in America” report for 2019.
Maine ranked No. 12 on the list and Rhode Island checked in at No. 20, according to the personal finance website’s ranking.
“Fat is becoming the new normal in America. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than seven in 10 U.S. adults aged 20 and older are either overweight or obese,” WalletHub wrote in its report. “Rates are lower for children and adolescents but have risen drastically in the past few decades”
In compiling the report, WalletHub says it compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 29 key metrics, including the share of the overweight and obese population, sugary-beverage consumption among adolescents, and obesity-related health care costs.
Massachusetts ranked among the least obese states, checking in at No. 49 on the list.
The 20 fattest states are as follows:
1. Mississippi
2. West Virginia
3. Kentucky
4. Tennessee
5. Alabama
6. Oklahoma
7. Louisiana
8. Arkansas
9. Delaware
10. Ohio
11. Michigan
12. Maine
13. South Carolina
14. Iowa
15. Kansas
16. Texas
17. North Carolina
18. Maryland
19. Georgia
20. Rhode Island
WalletHub also noted three key statistics in regards to diabetes:
- $327 Billion: Estimated cost of diabetes in the U.S. in 2017 ($237 billion in direct medical costs, $90 billion in nonmedical costs).
- $9,601: Average annual diabetes-related health care costs for patients.
- 2.3: Number of times by which a diabetes patient’s health care costs increase.
- 14 & 18 Years: Reduction in the average male and female type 1 diabetes patient’s life expectancy, respectively.
Eleven percent of Americans suffer from diabetes and its the seventh leading cause of death.
To view the full report, click here.
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