THANK GOD FOR MISSISSIPPI - West Virginia Second Worst On Fat List

(08/20/2008)
By Bob Weaver

Readers comment they are bothered by the Herald publishing the "worst in everything" list, which generally includes the State of West Virginia.

Ignoring such would surely enforce the denial we have about the state's problems.

But then, Mississippi generally spares us from being the rock-bottom worst.

A new report says Mississippi is America's fattest state, with adult obesity rates across the nation on a steady climb.

Adult obesity rates rose in 37 states in the past year, according to the report released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The report said Mississippi's adult obesity rate is 31.7 percent - the highest in the nation.

A close second was West Virginia with 30.6 percent.