Michigan’s Obesity Rating Is Average, Yet Still Surprising

For years now, Americans have been hearing all the trash talk from the rest of the world about the quality of their food and the obesity rate within the country. The United States has the 12th highest obesity rate in the world at just over 34% but America does have the most obese people in the world. A lot of this has to do with the unhealthy processed foods that we consume but the other part of that is our lifestyle or lack thereof.

Michigan, just like any other state in the United States, has their local favorites and their top foods that keep people coming back for more. I'm not going to act like a bunch of the food we eat is healthy, but it can't be that bad right. In fact, it's pretty bad but we do seem to have a grip on it compared to some of the surrounding states. Michigan's obesity rate isn't quite high or low but there are still some shocking factors involved.

The overall obesity rate of the world has been steadily increasing over the last 30 years and has more than tripled from 5% in 1990 to 16% in 2022. Lifestyle, dietary habits, socioeconomic status, access to healthcare, and physical activity levels all contribute to these regional differences. Everybody has a different idea of what obese is but according to the Body Mass Index, obesity is defined as having a BMI equal to or greater than 30.

Read More: Michigan Is Officially One of the Laziest States in America

The Midwest had the highest obesity rate in the entire country at 35.8% with the South closely behind had 35.6% which makes sense when states like Tennesse, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin are all ranked within the top 15. This is where things start to become a little clearer for Michigan.

Michigan is ranked as the 23rd most obese state in America with a 34.5% rate, which narrowly has them in the top half of the country. This is both good and bad as no state wants to be near the top of this list but at the same time, Michigan is one of the lowest states in the Midwest and with a couple of adjustments could find themselves in the bottom half of the country or even lower.

The data shows that young adults were half as likely to be considered obese compared to their middle-aged counterparts. So, as the years begin to pass by, make sure you are staying active and eating balanced meals to try and mitigate the obesity rates in the state of Michigan.