According to the 2022 Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all U.S. states have an obesity rate of higher than 20%, resulting in one in five adults suffering from obesity. The maps detailed obesity rates for the 50 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories. Louisiana, Oklahoma and West Virginia are the three states with the highest obesity rate among their residents being 40% or higher rate.
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Obesity rates by race and ethnicity and variance by education and age were detailed in the report. Among non-Hispanic Black adults, 38 states saw obesity rates of 35% or higher. The report concluded that young adults between 18 and 24 years old had the lowest obesity rate at 20.5%, while adults 45 to 54 years old the highest obesity rates at 39.9%. People with higher levels of education were less likely to suffer from obesity, contrary to adults without at least a high school diploma reported to have the highest obesity rates at 37.6%. Dr. Brett Osborn shared his opinions on the epidemic by calling obesity a “gateway disease” to others such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s. He said it’s “the disease that kills most Americans.”
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"Unlike [with] the COVID-19 pandemic, during which people were acutely ill — it was obvious — obesity kills you insidiously," Osborn said.
"Obesity is a primer for age-related disease and early death," he went on. "Being categorically obese is associated with a two- to 10-year reduction in life expectancy. This would translate to hundreds of thousands of years of life lost — in a single year — given the CDC’s reported increase in obesity incidence among Americans."
This article originally appeared in Fox News and was written by Melissa Rudy
