More than 7 in 10 U.S. adults aged 20 and older are either overweight or obese, and the health challenge is greater in some states than others.
More than 7 in 10 U.S. adults aged 20 and older are either overweight or obese, and the health challenge is greater in some states than others.
The 2023 ranking of most and least obese U.S. states comes from Wallethub, which compared the states across 31 metrics across the three dimensions of obesity and overweight prevalence, health consequences and food and fitness.
Metrics include share of overweight and obese adults, teenagers and children; share of physically inactive adults, teenagers and children; and share of adults with hypertension, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes, among other comorbidities.
West Virginia is the most overweight state overall, with 41.3% of the state’s adults classified as obese and another 32.6% classifying as overweight but not obese.
Below are the top 15 states and bottom 15 states, along with Washington, D.C. The complete ranking and scoring can be found here.
Most overweight, obese states
1. West Virginia
2. Mississippi
3. Kentucky
4. Louisiana
5. Arkansas
6. Tennessee
7. Alabama
8. Texas
9. South Carolina
10. Delaware
11. Oklahoma
12. North Carolina
13. Kansas
14. Ohio
15. Iowa
Least overweight, obese states
36. Connecticut
37. Wyoming
38. Idaho
39. Oregon
40. Arizona
41. New York
42. Vermont
43. Montana
44. Washington
45. Minnesota
46. California
47. District of Columbia
48. Hawaii
49. Massachusetts
50. Utah
51. Colorado