Box Elder Fattest County in Utah
NEW YORK, March 24, 2016 — Obesity is a well known problem in the United States. However, obesity rates are more pronounced in certain areas of the country than others. Despite Box Elder County’s 32.8 percent obesity rate, the highest in the state, county residents report relatively healthy behaviors. The county has one of the most concentrated Mormon populations in Utah, a religion that largely forbids drinking and smoking. Perhaps as a result, the county’s 9.2 percent smoking and 11.0 percent excessive drinking rates are lower than the corresponding state rates and among the lowest in the country.
To identify the most obese county in each state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed county-level health data from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program.
Julie Willems Van Dijk, the co-director of the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program at the University of Wisconsin, explained to 24/7 that the high obesity rates in the United States are due to “a complex integration of genetics, behavior, and environment.”
Data indeed show that certain environmental conditions and financial circumstances can drastically affect obesity rates in a given population. For example, low income areas are often more likely to have a relatively large share of obese adults, as financial instability can greatly limit healthy food options.
“Processed foods or fast foods are generally less expensive than fresh fruits and vegetables or meat,” Willems Van Dijk said. “The affordability of calorie-dense, low-nutrition foods is definitely a factor.” According to the data, the typical household in 39 of these 50 counties earns less than the national median income of $53,700.
The distance to grocery stores with healthy food options in rural areas was also a contributing factor. “If you’re fairly low income and the nearest grocery store is five or 10 miles away and you don’t have a car or you don’t have money to put gas in the car you have,” Willems Van Dijk explained.
Sedentary lifestyles are also a major contributor to obesity. Consequently, obesity rates are often high in areas with limited access to places where residents can be physically active. In 44 of the 50 counties examined, residents have less access to areas for physical activity, such as parks or recreation centers, than the rest of the state. In Menominee County, Wisconsin for example, only 7.4% of residents have access to areas for physical activity. Meanwhile, 81.7% of Wisconsin residents have access to such areas. Perhaps not surprisingly, 41.0% of Menominee County adults are obese, while only 29.4% of Wisconsin adults are obese.
Bottom line, obesity often leads to the onset of chronic diseases and often leads to premature death. Obesity is linked to diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure. Preventable death before age 75 is more common than it is across the corresponding state in 41 of the the 50 counties examined.
The following are the most obese counties for each state. Click on the state/county for its obesity report card.
24/7’s Methodology
To identify the most obese county in every state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed county-level data from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program. We also considered individual measures of health outcomes and health factors. The health factors component included measures of healthy behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment measures. Data were compiled from over 20 different sources and are as of the most recent year available. A total of 3,140 counties were considered.
About Us
24/7 Wall St., LLC is a Delaware corporation which runs a financial news and opinion company with content delivered over the Internet. The company’s articles are republished by many of the largest news sites and portals, including MSN Money, Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch, Time.com, USAToday, and The Huffington Post.
The company publishes over 30 articles per day and has readers throughout North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
