A new Gallup poll lists West Virginia as the second-fattest state in the nation for the second year in a row with an obesity rate of 34.3 percent. According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, those with a body mass index of 30 or higher are considered obese. Mississippi was the fattest state in the country at 35.2 percent.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For the second time in as many years, West Virginia had the second-highest obesity rate in the nation in 2014, according to a new poll from Gallup-Healthways.
The new rankings, which were released on Wednesday, place the Mountain State’s obesity rate at 34.3 percent, which only falls behind Mississippi’s rate of 35.2. Both states have had the highest obesity rates in the country since 2012.
West Virginia and Mississippi have frequently had high obesity rates since Gallup-Healthways began their annual poll in 2008.
As recently as 2013, West Virginia had the highest obesity rate in the nation, with 33.5 percent.
Since 2008, the Mountain State has ranked last in the nation three times and has never ranked higher than 47th.
Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri rounded out the top 10 list of states with the highest obesity rates in the country in 2014. All of them had an obesity rate over 30 percent.
In contrast, Hawaii had the lowest obesity rate in the country, with 19 percent.
The national obesity rate was 27.7, which is an increase…
