[soulful]

Does anyone have any ideas as to why folks in Alabama choose an unhealthy lifestyle?

Mississippi's still fattest but Alabama closing in - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090701/ap_on_he_me/us_med_obesity_rankings - broken link)

[Charles]

The Huntsville Times had a special report. It mentioned lots of low education levels, low income people, high percentage of African Americans as two factors that correlate with obesity.

Three of the strongest predictors of obesity are %poverty, %uneducated and %African American.

"Also contributing to the state's [Alabama] obesity are simple demographics. For instance, blacks tend to be more obese than other racial groups, and Alabama has a relatively high black population. "

and

"Poorer people also tend to be more obese, and Alabama is a relatively poor state. In Alabama, the obesity rate for people who make less than $15,000 a year is 31 percent; for those earning more than $75,000 a year it falls to 21 percent.
Also, the less educated are more likely to be obese, and Alabamians tend to receive less education than residents elsewhere in the nation. The obesity rate in Alabama is 26 percent for adults with a high school education and 18 percent for college graduates."

from

Huntsville Times: Why are people in Alabama so fat?

[mimpdaddy]

Soul food!!

[Croye22]

Originally Posted by mimpdaddy

Soul food!!

Collard greens, corn bread, fried chicken, porkchops, ribs, etc.
Good for the soul, bad for the heart ^_^

Glad I don't eat it anymore.

But yeah, there's a lot of factors, and Charles, there's waaay more reasons than that.

Lack of physical exercise
Excuses
Kids playing more videogames these days and becoming more sedimentary.

[33458]

Regional diet. Food culture.

(I am repeating myself...)

[soulful]

Well, if Alabama ranks number 2 in poverty and education (which would match the obesity ranking) then the Huntsville Times story makes sense.

I don't know AL.'s rankings in these two areas vs. other states.

[LexusNexus]

Alabama is not consistently red come election time because there is an over-abundance of black people in the state. Stands to reason that black people are not simply the reason the state is one of the "fattest" or ranked the lowest in other categories. Be realistic here. Everyone in this state contributes to its rankings.

[mimpdaddy]

Originally Posted by Alexus

Alabama is not consistently red come election time because there is an over-abundance of black people in the state. Stands to reason that black people are not simply the reason the state is one of the "fattest" or ranked the lowest in other categories. Be realistic here. Everyone in this state contributes to its rankings.

Those articles are a load of crap.
They are trying to tell people how to live.
The common person in Alabama doesn't care we are # 2.We produced some of the greatest athletes in history.Those are liberals somewhere like California trying to pick on stereotypical states like Alabama and Mississippi.
Eat a #$%k

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by Croye22

Kids playing more videogames these days and becoming more sedimentary.

That's better than them becoming more igneous.

[soulful]

Take a walk through Walmart (or any major discount store) and note the size of the shoppers