5 States Where Prospects Are Getting Fat Fast, With 50 States of Trend Data

The future of the U.S. financial services sector depends, heavily, on what Americans weigh. Weight influences whether prospects can get life insurance, what health insurers' earnings will look like, and how much cash Medicare and Medicaid will need to pull from the economy to support their operations. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classifies adults as being obese if they have a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or greater. For an adult standing 5 feet 9 inches tall, for example, that BMI range translates into a weight of 203 pounds or more. One source of state obesity data is the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey program.

More articles in this Health Data Atlas collection:

• Where More Prospects Are Binge Drinking
• Where More Prospects Are Getting Coronary Heart Disease
• Where More Prospects Have Diabetes
• Where More Prospects Are Getting Kidney Disease
• Where More Prospects Are Having Lung Problems

Government policymakers tend to focus on the needs of low-income people. When you're thinking about prospects, and current clients, you may prefer to focus on the people who are most likely to be able to afford to pay for financial services prospects: the people with some money. Here, in the data card gallery above, is a look at the five states where the percentage of relatively high-earning adults, or those with a household income of $50,000 or higher, increased the most between 2013 BRFSS survey and the 2018 survey. (Wiggle your pointer ove the first slide to make the control arrows show up.) For data on all 50 states and the District of Columbia, see the table below. .

Obesity
The percentage of adults, with annual household income over $50,000, who appear to be obese.
The CDC behavioral risk survey team defines "obesity" as meaning that an individual has a body mass index over 30. The survey team calculates each BRFSS survey participant's BMI using the height and weight information provided by the participant.
Location	2013	2018	Change, in percentage points
Alabama	30.5	34.6	4.1
Alaska	28.7	29.6	0.9
Arizona	23.8	25.9	2.1
Arkansas	30.3	36.0	5.7
California	21.3	22.9	1.6
Colorado	19.4	22.6	3.2
Connecticut	21.6	26.0	4.4
Delaware	29.3	32.8	3.5
District of Columbia	15	17.9	2.9
Florida	24.6	29.7	5.1
Georgia	28.1	30.5	2.4
Guam	30.7	34.5	3.8
Hawaii	21.8	24.0	2.2
Idaho	26.4	27.4	1.0
Illinois	25.8	29.6	3.8
Indiana	29.4	34.5	5.1
Iowa	30.2	33.8	3.6
Kansas	27.9	33.7	5.8
Kentucky	30.7	35.6	4.9
Louisiana	30	35.2	5.2
Maine	26.2	27.8	1.6
Maryland	26.6	29.6	3.0
Massachusetts	21.3	25.0	3.7
Michigan	29	30.9	1.9
Minnesota	24.7	29.1	4.4
Mississippi	31.4	38.0	6.6
Missouri	29.6	34.0	4.4
Montana	23.6	27.2	3.6
Nebraska	27.8	32.6	4.8
Nevada	24.4	29.1	4.7
New Hampshire	25.2	27.4	2.2
New Jersey	25.3	25.4	0.1
New Mexico	23.9	31.4	7.5
New York	22.1	25.8	3.7
North Carolina	25.6	32.3	6.7
North Dakota	29.2	35.3	6.1
Ohio	28	34.3	6.3
Oklahoma	32.5	34.2	1.7
Oregon	25.4	28.7	3.3
Pennsylvania	28	30.2	2.2
Puerto Rico	29.6	35.1	5.5
Rhode Island	24.8	24.2	-0.7
South Carolina	29.1	31.0	1.9
South Dakota	31.5	29.4	-2.1
Tennessee	30.3	33.3	3.0
Texas	26.8	33.6	6.8
Utah	23.4	27.8	4.4
Vermont	23.1	26.1	3.0
Virginia	24.9	29.2	4.3
Washington	25	28.3	3.3
West Virginia	35.9	38.6	2.7
Wisconsin	28.4	30.4	2.0
Wyoming	27.1	29.4	2.3
MEDIAN	26.8	29.7	3.6

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