Coincidentally, I was just blogging about 'Globesity', a BBC World Service radio documentary about global obesity:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/6904311.stm

The first part is a fascinating look at the surprising explosion of obesity in the developing world. Apparently two-thirds of black, female city-dwellers in South Africa are overweight.

Another interesting fact, there are now twice as many overweight people on the planet (1.6 billion) as undernourished. Paradoxically (or so it seems), some people fall into both categories.

Not sure what they are eating but it sure must be good.

Having grown up in Michigan, I can say that you get eat a lot of pizza in the winter months.

Having spent the last 10 years in Texas, there is a lot of good BBQ and southern food to be had.

I'll tell you what we eat in Mississippi...some seriously good food, and lots of it!

I was born in MS and lived there my first 24 years, and I've seen the good and bad of MS cooking: Fried chicken, corn bread, roast beef, fried fish, beans, peas, corn, greens, etc. are all good in moderation. The problem in MS, and in other more rural states, is shift from agrarian to industrial/service societies and the preponderance of lower incomes.

The shift from the agrarian society took folks from the field to the desk. A sedentary lifestyle took over, but the eating habits didn't change. The lower incomes in most of the South and Midwest required folks to eat as much of the {insert your favorite animal here} as possible, thus the over use of deep frying to prepare foods. Frying makes many a dubious meat quite edible!

So, there you go. My take on it as a proud Mississippian.

Or part of it could be the recent changes in how obsesity is defined that plays to those numbers, not so long ago I was conisdered average, now according to the government definition I am obese. Who cares that I visit the gym three times a week.

"There's liars, damned liars, and statisticians." - Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens

Mashup request: I'd be really interested to see an overlay of Wal-Mart stores per state.

Thomas - if you look at the graphic you'll see that obesity is defined as BMI>30, so in this instance the definition is not changing, the size of the average ass is...

Honestly, just take a look around and tell me that people are not getting hugely fatter. Or, just look at some old photographs from the 40s and 50s...

Body Mass Index doesn't account for different skeletal structures (you're higher with broad shoulders, regardless) and doesn't distinguish between muscle and fat.

BMI distinguishes people who weigh more per inch of height, and only indirectly correlates with obesity.