It's an easy thing for a state to rationalize. Every year, the percentage of Texas residents who are technically obese inches up slightly. It's just by a percentage point or so, so maybe it's a rounding error or a gravitational anomaly that affects every Texans' scale. Besides, who doesn't overindulge over the holidays? You can work off the extra flab during the new year. The new year comes and the new treadmill turns into an expensive clothes hanger and before you know it, your ankles are too chubby to fit in your cowboy boots and you're the ninth fattest state in America with a 30.4-percent obesity rate.
Yes, Texas is high on yet another list, but this one is from the Centers For Disease Control, whose opinions carry more weight than, say, Forbes. Plus, it comes with colorful maps and a slideshow that show us just how shockingly fast our waistlines have expanded. The map above is from 2010. The one below is from 1990.
The CDC reminds us that obesity increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, etc. and is generally a bad thing. But there is a sliver of good news in all the figures and maps. They are all based on self-reported obesity, which explains why the official, national rate is at 35.7 percent, higher than any individual state. Sure, some people are in denial, but most people aren't. And if you're going to be fat anyway, you might as well own it.
