Actually, Memphis, Tn. supposedly has the highest rate of obesity. What people don't understand is that obesity is a complicated disease that includes many factors and it's not always easy for obese people to change their eating habits. I worked with some very obese young women and when they would ask me how they could lose weight, the first question I asked them is how many soft drinks they drank a day. Some admitted that they drank well over 2 liters of coke or whatever their favorite drink was. When I told them to start by eliminating the soft drinks, they would look at me as if I had lost my mind. They were so addicted to those drinks that they didn't even want to consider trying to stop drinking them. Sure, there are other foods that are high in calories that too many Americans eat these days, including a tendency to eat in restaurants far more than we did when I was a child. It's complicated and while government might be able to do more, I don't think that will be as helpful as some think. Americans have changed how they eat over the last several decades. We have way too much food available and most people have no idea what a normal portion size is anymore. I have sympathy for the obese, and it is much worse in the south than it is in the northeast. We can't blame governmental policies for all of that. If we could find a solution to the obesity crisis, it would save huge amounts of health care resources and help lower the cost of. health care over all.
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/fattest-cities-in-america.html
This is the list of the most obese cities
1 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 76.97
2 Shreveport-Bossier City, LA 75.24
3 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN 73.88
4 Jackson, MS 73.75
5 New Orleans-Metairie, LA 72.94
6 Chattanooga, TN-GA 72.31
7 Mobile, AL 72.26
8 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 71.26
9 Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC 71.24
10 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR 70.89
11 Columbia, SC 70.49
12 Knoxville, TN 70.47
13 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA 70.05
14 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 70.01
15 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 69.38
16 Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC 69.33
17 Lafayette, LA 69.33
18 Greensboro-High Point, NC 69.02
19 Oklahoma City, OK 68.99
20 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA 68.72
Most are southern cities and imo, Indy is very similar culturally to many southern cities. My son lives there. The only difference between it and the south are the accents and the cold winters.
