WalletHub Study

Americans are the fattest people in the world. By one measure, more than 70 percent of the U.S. population aged 15 and older is overweight or obese. But such a finding should come as no surprise, considering the proliferation of fast-food establishments and increasingly cheaper grocery items that have negatively altered our diets. Unfortunately, the extra pounds have inflated the costs of obesity-related medical treatment to nearly $316 billion a year and annual productivity losses due to work absenteeism to more than $8.6 billion.

But certain places are more responsible than others for tipping the scale in favor of bad health. To identify them, WalletHub’s analysts compared 100 of the most populated U.S. metro areas across 17 key indicators of weight-related problems. Our data set ranges from share of physically inactive adults to projected obesity rates by 2030 to healthy-food access.

Weight Problems in Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin (1=Fattest, 50=Avg.):

   36th – % of Obese Adults

   19th – % of Adults Eating Fewer than 1 Serving of

                 Fruits/Vegetables per Day

   35th – % of Adults with Diabetes

   15th – % of Adults with High Blood Pressure

   2nd – Access to Healthy Food

Methodology

In order to determine the fattest places in America, WalletHub’s analysts compared 100 of the most populated U.S. metro areas across three key dimensions: 1) Obesity & Overweight, 2) Weight-Related Health Problems and 3) Healthy Environment.

We evaluated those dimensions using 17 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 “fattest.” Data for metrics marked with an asterisk (*) were available only at the state level.

We then calculated the overall score for each city based on its weighted average across all metrics and used the resulting scores to construct our final ranking. For the full report, please visit:

www.wallethub.com/edu/fattest-cities-in-america/10532