Obesity: A Republican problem?

[angus]

Obesity: A Republican problem?

yes, and it's a Democrat problem as well.  And an unaffiliated voter's problem.  It's everyone's problem. 

Here's a more finely-grained map.

Whether it is more a problem for members of one party over all others, I don't know.  You'd have to find some correlation data to make that case.  You can't conclude that since states which had a higher ratio of Romney voters to Obama voters have a higher obesity rate, it's more of a Republican problem.  Similarly, you can't just say that since blacks are more obese, and blacks are more likely to be democrat, then it's more of a problem for Democrats.  You'd want to find a report of obesity rate by partisan affiliation.

I did read that we have lost our status as the most obese among the populous nations.  Mexico surpassed us in July of this year in that regard.  ¡Viva las ricas tortas!

[angus]

That county map is very interesting, I'm happy to note how rapidly obesity drops off after crossing the Virginia state line.

I see too many suspicious state borders. Virginia / WV, Colorado / Kansas, Texas / Louisiana, Texas / Oklahoma.

I see them too. I have a hard time believing that So IL is so different than its neighboring states or E CO from NE and KS. I suspect that data collection may be skewed by how each state measures obesity and then reports it.

I noticed Virginia and Texas right away, and now that you mention it Illinois sticks out as well.  I saw that it was compiled from CDC estimates so I figured it was probably about as good as any data we could get, but if states are reporting separately it might explain some differences.

Or, maybe that's just the way it is.  Based on my anecdotal observations, I'd expect the rates to be very high in the four-corners region and in the lower Mississippi River valley.  In both those places, the rates are high.  Still, I'd also have expected it to be high in the lower Rio Grande valley, though.  Also, like you, I wouldn't expect the rates to be so different between Briston, TN and Bristol, VA, or between Nacogdoches, TX and Natchitoches, LA, for example.  Maybe there are some differences between state reporting, or collecting, protocols.