These 10 States Have The Highest Obesity Rates

Gallup reports today that Mississippi boasted the highest obesity rate in the United States last year, while Montana boasted the lowest.

10 States with Highest Obesity Rates
Mississippi: 35.4%
West Virginia: 34.4%
Delaware: 34.3%
Louisiana: 32.7%
Arkansas: 32.3%
South Carolina: 31.4%
Tennessee: 31.3%
Ohio: 30.9%
Kentucky: 30.6%
Oklahoma: 30.5%

10 States with Lowest Obesity Rates
Montana: 19.6%
Colorado: 20.4%
Nevada: 21.1%
Minnesota: 22.0%
Massachusetts: 22.2%
Connecticut: 23.2%
New Mexico: 23.5%
California: 23.6%
Hawaii: 23.7%
New York: 24.0%

(LIST: States with Highest Flu Rates)

Since the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index started tracking the obesity rate in 2008, Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Kentucky have made the list of the top 10 states with the highest obesity rates, while Colorado, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California have made the list of the lowest obesity rates. Indeed, southern and midwestern states generally boast the highest levels while northeastern and western states generally boast the lowest. Gallup also notes:

More than two in 10 adults were obese in nearly every state in 2013, with the exception of Montana. Three in 10 adults were obese in 11 states — Mississippi, West Virginia, Delaware, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Alaska — compared with only five states in 2012.

The polling company also wrote that in the 10 states with the highest obesity rates, residents are more likely to report that they have a chronic disease like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or depression.

The results are based on telephone interviews conducted between Jan. 2, 2013, and Dec. 29, 2013, and a random sample of 178,072 adults aged 18 and older living in the U.S. The margin of sampling error is generally ±1 to ±2 percentage points and can be as high as ±4 points in states with smaller populations.

Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com.