© 2024
NPR for Northern Colorado
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Poll Says Colorado Springs Bumps Boulder As The Slimmest

Jason Miller
/
Creative Commons/Flickr
Downtown Colorado Springs Oct.17, 2009.

Colorado Springs residents are the slimmest in the nation, according to polling.

Gallup and Healthways polling found that in 2014, Colorado Springs had the least obese population of any city. Just 19.6 percent of Colorado Springs residents qualify as obese, compared to the highest obesity rate in Baton Rouge Louisiana, where more than a third of the population 35.9 percent, are obese.

The obesity rates were determined using "self-reported height and weight to calculate each respondent's body mass index (BMI)," according to Gallup. Americans with a BMI of 30 or higher are considered obese.

Just one other area of Colorado made it into the top five. The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area came in third, with an obesity rate of 20.3 percent. Until now, Boulder had the lowest obesity rate in the nation, at 12.4 percent for nearly every year since Gallup and Healthways began measuring in 2008, with the exception of 2009.

Credit Gallup
/
Gallup

Previous Gallup and Healthways research shows that "obesity appears to be more common in smaller communities than large ones." In less populated communities, which are not represented in the data, obesity rates could be even higher than the 35.9 percent found in the Baton Rouge area.

Nationally, the obesity rate continued to climb in 2014 to 27.7 percent, up from 27.1 percent in 2013 and much higher than the 25.5 percent found in 2008, when Gallup began collecting data.

Hawaii was the slimmest state in the U.S. in 2014 overall, with an obesity rate of 19 percent. Colorado came in second, with just over 20 percent of adults qualifying as obese. It was the Centennial State's second year in a row in the number two spot after topping the 2012 list.

Mississippi had the highest obesity rate in the nation for the second year in a row, at just over 35 percent.

According to Gallup, residents who live in the 10 communities with the highest obesity rates have much lower financial well-being compared to people living in those with the lowest obesity rates. "For instance, those living in the most obese communities are much more likely to worry about money and struggle to afford food and health care. These findings are consistent with previous Gallup and Healthways research showing that obesity is linked to long-term unemployment and lower incomes."

You can read the full report here.

Related Content