Most overweight and obese cities: a slideshow

The annual medical cost of obesity is advancing to $200 billion, according to personal finance website WalletHub.

March is National Nutrition Month, and any time is a good time to rethink dietary bad habits that contribute to weight gain. Meanwhile, the latest science is showing overweight and obesity involve much more than just food choices.

“Obesity is becoming more and more prevalent in the U.S., and it’s costing us big time,” WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe said in the report, “Most Overweight and Obese Cities in the U.S. (2024).”

“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,” she said.

WalletHub ranked the cities by measuring 19 relevant metrics over three dimensions.

• Obesity & Overweight included figures such as shares of overweight and obese adults, high school students and children aged 10 to 17 years, and projected obesity rates by 2030.
• Health Consequences examined factors including high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and the obesity-related death rate.
• Food & Fitness listed shares of adults with low fruit and vegetable consumption, residents who say they eat healthy, residents with limited access to healthy food, physically inactive adults, access to recreational facilities, and health educators per capita.

This slideshow lists the 13 most overweight and obese cities across the nation. Data come from WalletHub. The full report online has a list of the top 100 cities – including, maybe, yours.