Only 19.7 percent of islanders are overweight, according to a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.
"We continue to be a moving population," said Claire Hughes, nutrition branch chief, state Department of Health. "Look at the elderly in the morning (swimming) at Ala Moana Beach."
But she warns: "We shouldn't rest on our laurels either because we are creeping up there."
Colorado followed Hawaii in the CDC study, with only 19.9 percent of its residents battling the bulge.
The states with the fattest folks: Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, West Virginia and Wisconsin - all with 30 percent or more of adults overweight.
Good weather and a lot of outdoor activities help shape the slim figures in Hawaii and Colorado.
"We are very physically active here ... ," said Joel Hanna, University of Hawaii physiology professor. Also, he said, Hawaii has many immigrants who "typically aren't overfed. Then they tend to catch up."
The study was based on telephone surveys to determine body mass index. Women with body mass index over 27.3 and men with more than 27.8 were considered overweight.
Gov. Ben Cayetano weighed 198 pounds and had a body mass index of 32.02 when he started a low-fat diet with others Jan. 6, said Dr. Terry Shintani, who supervised the project. Weighing in Jan. 27 at the program's end, Shintani said Cayetano was 12 pounds lighter, with a body mass index of 30.08.
While Hawaii looks slim overall, Hughes said, "we have many people in trouble. And what is worrisome is the entire nation is creeping up in weight, including Hawaii."
She said Hawaii's average body mass index leaped from 16.55 in 1986 to 24.1 in 1994. The national average jumped nine points, from 22.58 in 1986 to 31.6 in 1994.
Hughes and others say Hawaii's large Asian population masks problems of disproportionately high rates of obesity and chronic disease among Hawaiians, part-
Hawaiians and Samoans.
Shintani calls it "the Hawaii paradox:" While Hawaii is known as the health state, native Hawaiians have the nation's worst health and obesity.
Filipinos and Japanese who immigrated here in the 1800s live to advanced ages, but younger members of those groups are "well on their way to chronic diseases," she said. "They're not going to make it to 100, healthy, to walk around Ala Moana Park."
Noting she's a native Hawaiian, Hughes added, "If I make it to 70 I'll be doing well."
Why the generational shift? "Look at what we're eating," she said.
People have given up cooking for fast foods because they're easy and inexpensive, said Donna Helderman, Straub Clinic and Hospital registered dietitian. But "it's the least beneficial choice."
Helderman said the Asian population tilts the state picture toward thinness because of "low-fat vs. local-style foods."
Cayetano is following a low-fat diet, stressing vegetables, fruits and brown rice, Helderman said. "If people could go more toward that again, it would help."
Judy Thompson, Queen's Medical Center registered dietitian, expressed some surprise that Hawaii has the fewest overweight people in the nation "because I know a lot of people struggle."
She said "everybody needs to be honest with themselves. ... Evaluate yourself. We don't all have to be 'skinny' to be healthy, but a healthy weight is what everybody should strive for."
Besides a climate that allows year-round physical activity, in Hawaii "a lot of people have access to health coverage and may be more akamai in taking care of themselves, with preventative care, diet, exercise and regular visits to the doctors ... " said Thompson.
Hughes said Cayetano has set a great example for others with excess weight.
"Everybody wants to know what the governor is eating. His openness about it certainly surprised me - for someone in public life to say, 'You know what, I'm over the edge.'"
Body mass index is a measurement used to determine if someone is overweight. the one used in the story is found by dividing weight in kilograms (2.2 pounds) by height in meters squared. An easier way to see how you rank weight-wise is to calculate your "waist-to-hip ratio." Here's how:Measure your waist and hip.
Divide the waist measurement by the hip measurement.
For example, if your waist measures 37 inches and your hips measure 34, your ratio is 1.09.
If you're a woman with a ratio of more than 0.8 or a man with a ratio higher than 1.0, you have upper- body obesity, putting you at risk for health problems.
Source: American Dietetic Association