It’s no secret that Americans struggle with obesity.
Nearly 42% of American adults 20 and older were considered obese from 2017 to March 2020, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Obesity takes a toll on more than just a person’s physical health; it is also costly.
According to the CDC, the disease accounted for nearly $173 billion in medical expenditures in 2019 dollars.
“Obesity is becoming more and more prevalent in the U.S., and it’s costing us big time,” Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst, said in a news release. “In the most overweight and obese cities, residents often lack easy access to healthy food and recreation opportunities, so investing in those areas should help improve people’s diets and exercise regimens, and reduce the financial burden overall.”
In a new study, WalletHub ranked the most overweight and obese cities in the nation.
Here’s what to know about the study.
What was WalletHub’s methodology?
To determine the most obese and overweight cities, WalletHub compared 100 of the most populated U.S. metro areas across three factors:
The obesity and overweight factor looked at the share of adults, children, and teenagers who were weigher overweight or obese, as well as predicted obesity rates in 2050.
For health consequences, the report looked at the share of adults with weight-related health conditions, such as high cholesterol, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
And finally, for food and fitness, the study examined the share of adults with low fruit/vegetable consumption; share of residents who say they eat healthy; limited access to healthy food; share of physically inactive adults; a city’s friendliness toward an active lifestyle; access to parks and recreational facilities; and number of health educators and community health workers per capita.
“We then determined each metro area’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample,” WalletHub said.
Cities were ranked on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the “fattest.”
Where do California cities rank on list?
Here are six California cities included on WalletHub’s list, along with their ranking and overall scores:
Which American cities ranked in as most obese?
Here are the highest-ranking obese and overweight cities on WalletHub’s list, along with their ranking and overall obesity scores:
Experts weigh in on ways to approach obesity problem
WalletHub asked experts a series of questions “for the best ways to address the problem (of obesity), from personal to policy levels.”
Here are some experts’ responses to WalletHub’s questions:
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Study names most obese US cities. See where California cities rank
Reporting by Daniella Segura, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
