Colorado still skinniest U.S. state

It's sad when an obesity rate of 20 is considered good.

I am obese and I'm trying to fight it. I recently realized just how many calories a day I typically eat and it was scary - and I don't even eat fast food, usually cooking at home from scratch. Portion control and calorie watching are important (and people probably don't think of all the calories in their cups of coffee or other drinks during the day). Moderate exercise is also important - which I've been doing in the form of simply walking daily for an hour - and it also gets my daughter outside. In a month I've lost 10lbs and I plan to keep going until I'm at least another 50lbs lighter. It takes a long time to go from obese to a healthy weight and most people just don't think they have the time or the willpower to get there. But, trust me, I've been feeling better - physcially and emotionally - in the past month than I have in years. The exercise is worth the loss of a half hour or hour of your day, trust me.

I live in the Denver metro area and if we are the skinniest state I would hate to see the fattest state!

Why do we subsidize high fructose corn sugar and wheat, then spend more tax money fighting obesity?

They say that during sex you burn off as many calories as you would running 8 miles. Who the hell runs 8 miles in 45 seconds?

America stared getting fat in the 1970's what happened?

processed food
corn syrup
central AC
cable TV
the first video games
artificial sweetners

I've found that when I cut out any food that is processed I eat much less because I'm hungry a lot less. I swear I think there is something in processed food that is designed to make us more hungry! I know cutting out processed food isn't an affordable option for all families, which is an absolute shame.

And that's just by state. It wouldn't surprise me if there's a city out there that cracks 50%.

The problem is our lifestyle. We don't work as physically hard as we used to. We drive more than we walk. We cook our own foods less and eat more than what's needed. Our kids spend more time on video games and play less outdoors. Our jobs are more tech saavy instead of labor intensive. We smoke more than ever. It's our choices that is at fault

It would be interesting to see what these numbers were in 1980.

People should start growing their own gardens again.

Is anybody else disgusted that the state with the LOWEST obesity rate is still at 20%. One out of 5 people is obese there? That's terrible! We really are a fat nation!

According to the weight/height charts, I am about 9 feet tall.

Back in elementary school, out of 500 kids, there were maybe ten who were overweight. This was only in 1980.

"Its obesity rate of only 20 percent makes it the nation's lowest" - Wow! That is so sad.

A few years back, a family friend who lives in Germany came over on business and took a few days off to catch up with us. We took her out to lunch at, of all places, the Cheesecake Factory. She was absolutely appalled at the portion sizes, at first thinking that the servings were intended for 3 or 4 people, and stunned to see that they were single-servings. It really got us thinking about the fact that portion size is so important. We monitor it at home, but people tend to eat what's put in front of them, and folks who are eating out at these places regularly are sometimes getting a full day's worth of calories, fat and sodium in one meal. And the restaurants push bread and appetizers on you, too, loading you up even further. Yes, it's the diners' choice to eat there and to clean their plates. It takes a conscious effort to realize how much you're eating, and to know WHAT you're eating.

The "skinniest" state is Delaware. Just look at a map.

a big problem is 'processed food'. 1/ it is made of of a hundred ingredients that none of us could ever fully pronounce, all of them bad and unhealthy. 2/ these 'processes' foods are much more affordable than the truly healthy food.
being healthy at a healthy weight is now a symptom of being wealthy.
being fat is a new symptom of the poor.

I spent 3 weeks traveling Italy via public transportation. I'm 6' tall and 165 lbs, and I'd say that 90% of Italians have about the fat% that I have. I was blown away. How do they do that? I then figured out that there culture is completly different than ours regarding huge box grocery stores and fast food. They have tiny little fresh vegetable markets and there not regulated by an USFDA that inforces all kinds of crap that is killing us and creating fat. I few months after I was back I went on a Carnival cruise and was grosed out by the 99% of overweight people. THE END,

I always find it ironic that the coldest states are usually the skinniest and the hottest states are usually the fattest. It should be the other way around, you know... for survival purposes.