CDC Reports ‘Very High’ Flu Activity In North Carolina And South Carolina
Flu season is here and already raging. Did you get your flu shot yet? If not, you might want to do so immediately. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control…
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesFlu season is here and already raging. Did you get your flu shot yet? If not, you might want to do so immediately. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning of "very high" in seven states and "high" rates of influenza cases in at least 18 more.
The Hill reports that there are seven states the CDC is particularly concerned about: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia. That’s because they’re described as having "very high" levels of flu activity.
Health officials estimate there have been between two-point-eight million and six-point-six million flu cases from early October through early November. In that same period, they've also estimated between 13-hundred and 36-hundred deaths. According to the CDC, flu activity levels haven't been this high this early since the 2009 swine flu outbreak.
Bad News, North Carolina Is One Of The Fattest States In The US
Being overweight is becoming the new normal in America. And if you say that it's quickly referred to as "fat-shaming". I'm not here to tell you to lose weight. I'm not here to tell you you're fat or skinny. Those are all conversations to have with your doctor. But I am here to tell you the facts. And, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 70 percent of U.S. adults (20+) are either classified as overweight or obese. While still lower, rates for children and adolescents are also on the rise. Why should you care? Well, obesity costs our healthcare system $173 billion per year according to the CDC. And a recent study by WalletHub ranked North Carolina as one of the fattest states.
What is causing this? One main issue is a lack of physical activity. Other factors include genetics, emotional instability, and sleeplessness. To determine where obesity and overweight most dangerously persist, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 31 key metrics. This data set ranges from the share of obese and overweight population to sugary-beverage consumption among adolescents to obesity-related health care costs. And, well it's bad news for North Carolina as we find ourselves ranking as one of the fattest states, near the top of these rankings.
Keep reading to see the most overweight and obese states followed by the 10 least overweight and obese states. You can view the full WalletHub study here.
Most Overweight & Obese States
1. West Virginia
Total Score: 74.60
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 1
Health Consequences: 1
Food & Fitness: 9
2. Mississippi
Total Score: 72.33
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 2
Health Consequences: 10
Food & Fitness: 1
3. Kentucky
Total Score: 68.99
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 4
Health Consequences: 8
Food & Fitness: 5
4. Arkansas
Total Score: 68.95
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 3
Health Consequences: 17
Food & Fitness: 6
5. Alabama
Total Score: 68.63
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 5
Health Consequences: 11
Food & Fitness: 3
6. Tennessee
Total Score: 67.46
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 6
Health Consequences: 12
Food & Fitness: 10
7. Louisiana
Total Score: 65.66
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 7
Health Consequences: 26
Food & Fitness: 4
8. Delaware
Total Score: 63.99
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 7
Health Consequences: 26
Food & Fitness: 4
9. Oklahoma
Total Score: 63.71
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 8
Health Consequences: 32
Food & Fitness: 15
10. South Carolina
Total Score: 63.43
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 10
Health Consequences: 22
Food & Fitness: 2
11. Georgia
Total Score: 62.27
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 11
Health Consequences: 28
Food & Fitness: 8
12. Texas
<span style="font-size: 16px;">Total Score: 62.08</span>
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 9
Health Consequences: 34
Food & Fitness: 13
13. Ohio
<span style="font-size: 16px;">Total Score: 61.99</span>
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 13
Health Consequences: 18
Food & Fitness: 14
14. Missouri
Total Score: 61.51
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 12
Health Consequences: 23
Food & Fitness: 17
15. North Carolina
Total Score: 60.13
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 16
Health Consequences: 21
Food & Fitness: 18
Least Overweight & Obese States
51. Colorado
<span style="font-size: 16px;">Total Score: 43.23</span>
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 51
Health Consequences: 48
Food & Fitness: 19
50. Utah
Total Score: 43.47
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 49
Health Consequences: 50
Food & Fitness: 34
49. District of Columbia
Total Score: 44.28
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 50
Health Consequences: 44
Food & Fitness: 31
48. Massachusetts
Total Score: 45.90
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 47
Health Consequences: 45
Food & Fitness: 51
47. Hawaii
Total Score: 47.00
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 44
Health Consequences: 51
Food & Fitness: 41
46. Minnesota
Total Score: 48.27
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 45
Health Consequences: 42
Food & Fitness: 39
45. California
Total Score: 49.97
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 38
Health Consequences: 49
Food & Fitness: 26
44. New York
Total Score: 50.93
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 43
Health Consequences: 38
Food & Fitness: 27
43. Arizona
Total Score: 51.12
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 35
Health Consequences: 47
Food & Fitness: 25
42. Washington
Total Score: 51.17
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence: 37
Health Consequences: 35
Food & Fitness: 43
Methodology
In order to determine the most overweight and obese states in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) Obesity & Overweight Prevalence, 2) Health Consequences and 3) Food & Fitness.
We evaluated those dimensions using 31 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most overweight state. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), we calculated the population size using the square root of the population in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across states.
Finally, we determined each state and the District’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.
Obesity & Overweight Prevalence – Total Points: 60
Health Consequences – Total Points: 25
Food & Fitness – Total Points: 15
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, Trust for America's Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Gallup, Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health, National Conference of State Legislatures, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.
