CDC: South not scaling back obesity

The South tips the scales again as the nation's fattest region, according to a new government survey.

Overall, about 26 percent of the CDC's telephone survey were obese.

More than 30 percent of adults in each of the 10 states surveyed tipped the scales enough to ensure that the South remains the nation's fattest region.

Georgia ranks eighth out 10 states with the highest levels of adult obesity, according to a 2007 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Colorado was the least obese, with about 19 percent fitting that category in a random telephone survey last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Survey results:
1. Mississippi, 32.0 percent
2. Alabama, 30.3
3. Tennessee, 30.1
4. Louisiana, 29.8
5. West Virginia, 29.5
6. Arkansas, 28.7
7. South Carolina, 28.4
8. Georgia, 28.2
9. Oklahoma, 28.1
10. Texas, 28.1
Source: Associated Press

Dr. William Dietz, who heads CDC's nutrition, physical activity and obesity division says the traditional Southern diet -- high in fat and fried food -- may be part of the answer.

The South also has a large concentration of rural residents and black women -- two groups that tend to have higher obesity rates, he said.

Obesity is based on the body mass index, a calculation using height and weight. A 5-foot, 9-inch adult who weighs 203 pounds would have a BMI of 30, which is considered the threshold for obesity.

CDC officials believe the telephone survey of 350,000 adults offers conservative estimates of obesity rates, because it's based on what respondents said about their height and weight. Men commonly overstate their height and women often lowball their weight, health experts say.

"The heavier you are, the more you underestimate your weight, probably because you don't weigh yourself as often," Dietz said.

Overall, about 26 percent of the respondents were obese, according to the study, published this week in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

A different CDC survey -- a gold-standard project in which researchers actually weigh and measure survey respondents -- put the adult obesity rate at 34 percent in 2005 and 2006, the most recent years for which there are data.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of health issues in Georgia, and here for more coverage about the CDC.

(The Associated Press)

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