A new analysis indicates that 42% of American adults, i.e. 4 out of 10 people nationwide, are obese. And Black, Hispanic and poorer communities have higher rates of obesity.
The obesity data was collected by NORC at the University of Chicago and funded by pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which produces the popular weight loss drug Ozempic.
According to the NORC analysis, the highest rate of obesity (51%) is found in West Virginia and Mississippi. The lowest obesity rates were in the District of Columbia (33%) and Colorado (34%).
Why is this important?
Obesity is the leading cause of preventable cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, stroke and diseases resulting in premature death.
But
Methods used to determine obesity rates have been under scrutiny for a while. Some experts believe that the Body Mass Index, one of the most common methods used to find out if a person is obese, correlates weight and health too closely, per the New Yorker.