Hawaii is second leanest in nation
Despite calorie-laden plate lunches, Hawaii's population is pretty lean compared with the rest of the country, according to an annual ranking.
Hawaii is the second-leanest state in the nation, according to CalorieLab Inc.
The fattest states:
Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana and South Carolina
The leanest states:
Colorado, Hawaii, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont
Source: CalorieLab Inc.
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Last year about 56.8 percent of Hawaii residents were considered overweight and 20.7 percent obese by Centers for Disease Control standards. But people in most other states are even flabbier, the report found.
"Every year the obesity rate is climbing," said Mark Schrimsher, a spokesman for CalorieLab, a health, nutritional and fitness Web site. Hawaii's obesity rate has increased about 1 percent a year during the last three years, Schrimsher said.
People in Southern states tend to eat a lot of fried food, and hot, humid summers don't encourage outdoor activity, Schrimsher said.
The leanest states tend to be where the weather is cooler, he added.
Popular foods in Hawaii, especially plate lunches with macaroni salad, can lead to obesity, he noted.
This was the first year Hawaii was ranked.
The survey uses a three-year average to calculate obesity rates. Hawaii did not conduct Body Mass Index surveys until 2005. The rankings were based on the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System database.