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Mapping America's Fat

Posted by: Nate Berg

28 November 2009 - 11:00am

This post from Richard Florida looks at the geography of obesity in America, and relates state obesity rates to the rates of death from various diseases.

"Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in America. More than 72 million American adults are obese, according to estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics. But obesity varies greatly by state.

...As usual, we point out that correlation does not imply causality, but simply points to associations between variables. Still, a number of interesting things stand out.

It should come as little surprise that states with higher levels of obesity have significantly higher rates of death from cancer, heart disease, and cerebrovascular diseases like hypertension. There is a significant correlation between obesity and death rates from cancer (.7), heart disease (.7), and cerebrovascular disease (.7)."

Full Story: The Geography of Obesity
Source: Creative Class Exchange, November 24, 2009
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