New CDC population data from last year show in 23 states, including Kansas, more than one in three adults (35%) has obesity. Before 2013, no state had an adult obesity prevalence at or above 35%. Currently, at least one in five adults (20%) in each U.S. state is living with obesity.
The 23 states with the highest adult obesity rates (35% or higher) do include: Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Nebraska.
Kansas came in 16th on the list, at 35.9%. Oklahoma was 6th (38.7%), and Nebraska was 10th (36.6%).
Overall, the Midwest (36.0%) and South (34.7%) had the highest prevalence of obesity, followed the West (29.1%) and the Northeast (28.6%).
Washington, D.C., and Colorado had an obesity prevalence between 20% and less than 25%, among the leanest on the list.
Three states (Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia) had an obesity prevalence of 40% or greater.