Kentucky has the sixth-highest obesity rate in the US

Isaac Robertson, the Co-Founder and Chief Editor of online fitness resource Total Shape, analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data sets, which were pooled into a 3-year group (2019-2021) and interpreted. 

West Virginia is in first place amongst all the states in the U.S. with the highest obesity rate. 51.05% of its population has at least category I obesity, meaning they have a Body Mass index (BMI) of 30 or above. When looking at males and females in West Virginia, of all men in the state, 50.8% suffer from obesity, and of all women, 51.2% suffer from obesity. 

Marginally behind West Virginia is Mississippi in second place, with 51.02% of its population living with some form of obesity. When looking at males and females in Mississippi, of all men, 47.1% suffer from obesity, and of all women in the state, 54.9% suffer from some form of obesity. 

In third place is Alabama, which has 49.85% of its population with category I obesity or worse. When looking at males and females in Alabama, of all the men in the state, 48.5% suffer from obesity, while of all women in the state, 51.1% suffer from some form of obesity. 

Oklahoma takes the fourth-place position, as 49.52% of its population is living with obesity. When looking at males and females in Oklahoma, of all the men in the state, 48.8% suffer from obesity, while of all women in the state, 50.2% suffer from some form of obesity. 

In fifth and sixth place are Arkansas and Kentucky, which have very little separating them, with 48.79% and 48.78% of their populations living with at least category I obesity.

In seventh place is Louisiana, which has 47.91% of its population dealing with some form of obesity. 

Iowa is in eighth place, with 47.64% of the population suffering from category I obesity or worse. 

South Dakota and Tennessee comprise the rest of the top ten, placing ninth and tenth, respectively. South Dakota has 47.61% of its population living with obesity, while Tennessee has 47.50%.  

The state with the lowest rate of obesity is Colorado, which has 34.06% of its population living with obesity. 

In 2017, the United States Department of Agriculture reported that 39.5 million people, or 12.8% lived in low-income and low-access areas. Of this number, 19 million people live in ‘food deserts’, low-income places that are more than one mile from a supermarket in urban or suburban areas and more than 10 miles from a supermarket in rural areas. 

Methodology: Total Shape analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data sets which were pooled into a 3-year group (2019-2021) and interpreted.