[Brad from Tennessee]

STUDY RANKS MISSISSIPPI AS ‘FATTEST’ STATE IN U.S.

JACKSON, Miss. — Experts say Mississippians need to skip the gravy, say no to the fried pickles and start taking brisk walks to fight an epidemic of obesity.

According to a new study, this Deep South state is the fattest in the nation. The Trust for America’s Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention, says Mississippi is the first state where more than 30 percent of adults are considered obese.

Aside from making Mississippi the butt of late-night talk show jokes, the obesity epidemic has serious implications for public policy.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294873,00.html

[Leisler]

We are all tax cattle for the state now.

[coloradan]

Note: “Epidemics” by definition are contagious diseases spread by an infectious agent, so what they are talking about is not an obesity epidemic. Although it sure pulls the emotional heartstrings.

[aruanan]

Aside from making Mississippi the butt of late-night talk show jokes, the obesity epidemic has serious implications for public policy.

Not really. If we lived one hundred years ago, we'd have people dying on an average of 25 years younger from all sorts of degenerative diseases caused by inadequate pre and peri-natal nutrition. Everyone is going to die of something. Better that they be obese and living and working for a couple of decades more and paying taxes than to prematurely die as in the past.

[mrsmel]

What this study won't tell you, because it's not PC, is that Mississippi has the highest percentage of blacks of any state, who in turn have the highest rate of obesity. Of course, that changes the picture a bit, but all he** would break loose if someone spoke the truth.

[peter the great]

Who ever put this thing together is a total idiot and just plain ignorant. For starters there are people who are diabetic who may wander into a restaurant simply needing anything to eat and what if they cannot get served? What then? For others who are truly obese you start cutting off the calories and retaining water becomes a problem. My point is that the solution is a little more complex than what conventional thinking and wisdom will bring about and in this case we are better off leaving things alone.