These Are The Fattest States In America

Approximately two-thirds of Americans are obese, and the average American citizen weighs 23 pounds more than the ideal weight for their body type, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alarming statistics aside, where are do the fattest and fittest people in America live?

WalletHub crunched some numbers based on 17 variables including average obesity percentage, physical inactivity rate, diabetes and high cholesterol numbers, and access to healthy food and fast-food restaurants. These combined factors provided the data for WalletHubs's obesity rankings. The five states with the fattest people in America are — perhaps unsurprisingly — Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the five states with the fittest people are Utah, Colorado, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Hawaii.

Mississippi is also home to the highest percentage of adults who eat less than one serving of fruit and vegetables every day, the highest percentage of residents who are physically inactive, and the highest percentage of children who are obese. California is home to the lowest obesity rate among adults, and Montana residents have the lowest blood pressure.

CDC data on the fattest cities in America released earlier this year supports this data: Three Louisiana cities and one Arkansas city made the top 10.