Americans are Growing...Horizontally

Americans keep getting fatter. According to a Reuters report: "The percentage of U.S. adults who are obese grew by nearly 2 percent between 2005 and 2007, from just under 24 percent to 25.6 percent." The report continued to say that more than a quarter of all Americans are now obese.

The biggest obesity issues are in the Southern states. Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee squeezed into the top three and represented Dixie with "30 percent of adults reporting weights that made them medically obese."

The place where you're most likely to fit into an elevator at the last moment? Colorado, where 18.7% of the population was obese.

Countrywide the study showed that Southerners are at the front of the chow line with 27% obesity. In the Midwest more than 25% of people have caught the fat bug. Northeasterners weighed in at 23%. And in the West the report's test subjects thinned out to 22%.

Obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or above. Body Mass Index, or BMI, is calculated using height and weight. For example, a 6-foot male who weighs 221 pounds would have a BMI of 30.       

Check your own BMI with the Body Mass Index Table.

--Alex Crevar