Obesity is one of the worst risks facing financial professionals' clients.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fed new state-level obesity prevalence survey data for 2016 into its Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) portal last week.
Many historic and demographic factors may affect the obesity rate for a given community.
One way to filter out some of those effects is to compare obesity rates for members of different age groups in the same commuities. People of different ages in the same community may have some differences, but they're all eating the same types of food, breathing the same air and fighting off the same germ.
In about half the states, obesity rates for millennials who were ages 25 to 34 last year are lower than the obesity rates for people ages 65 and up.
In the median state, Maryland, about 28% of the 25-34 millennials, and 29% of the residents ages 65 and older, said they were obese. That means that the obesity rate gap for the two populations was negative 1 percentage points: the people in 25-34 were somewhat more likely to be of normal weight than people ages 65 and older.
State millennial-to-senior obesity rate gaps for 2016 range from negative 7.5 percentage points in Wisconsin up to 10.3 percentage points in another jurisdiction.
In a state in which younger adults are much more likely than seniors to be obese, obesity could lead to increases in all sorts of problems, including problems with getting clients through medical underwriting processes.
For a look at the states with the highest obesity rate gaps between the 25-34 age group and the 65-and-older age group, along with a table that gives data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, read on.
(Photo: Thinkstock)
10. Arizona
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 28.5%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group: 25.9%
Difference: +2.6 percentage points
9. Kentucky
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 33.7%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group: 31%
Difference: +2.7 percentage points
8. West Virginia
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 35.4%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group: 32.4%
Difference: 3 percentage points
(Image: iStock)
7. New Hampshire
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 29.9%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group:26.5%
Difference: 3.4 percentage points
6. Alabama
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 33.5%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group: 29.6%
Difference: 3.9 percentage points
5. Arkansas
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 33.4%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group: 27.6%
Difference: 5.7 percentage points
4. Tennessee:
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 34.8%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group: 28.6%
Difference: 6.2 percentage points
(Photo: Thinkstock)
3. Mississippi
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 38.4%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group: 31%
Difference: 7.3 percentage points
2. New Mexico
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 31.7%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group: 24%
Difference: 7.7 percentage points
1. Hawaii
Obesity rate, 25-34 age group: 26.3%
Obesity rate, 65+ age group: 16%
Difference: 10.3 percentage points
Obesity rate (all states and D.C.) | |||
The middle two columns show the percentage of state (or District of Columbia) residents in each age group with a body mass index over 30.The last column shows the difference between the obesity rates for people in the 25-34 age group and the age 65+ age group, in percentage points.In the District of Columbia, for example, the share of the people in the 25-age group who are obese is 6.7 percentage points lower than for people ages 65+.In Florida, the obesity rate for people ages 25-34 is 1.3 percentage points higher than the rate for people ages 65+.
| |||
| Ages 25-34 | Ages 65+ | Difference | |
| Alabama | 33.5 | 29.6 | 3.9 |
| Alaska | 31.2 | 35.3 | -4.2 |
| Arizona | 28.5 | 25.9 | 2.6 |
| Arkansas | 33.4 | 27.6 | 5.7 |
| California | 23.2 | 23.5 | -0.3 |
| Colorado | 19.1 | 21.0 | -1.9 |
| Connecticut | 24.2 | 24.9 | -0.7 |
| Delaware | 26.5 | 30.4 | -3.9 |
| District of Columbia | 17.3 | 24.0 | -6.7 |
| Florida | 27.2 | 25.8 | 1.3 |
| Georgia | 27.6 | 31.0 | -3.4 |
| Hawaii | 26.3 | 16.0 | 10.3 |
| Idaho | 26.0 | 25.2 | 0.8 |
| Illinois | 27.6 | 30.9 | -3.3 |
| Indiana | 32.4 | 30.6 | 1.8 |
| Iowa | 28.2 | 30.9 | -2.6 |
| Kansas | 28.7 | 28.9 | -0.2 |
| Kentucky | 33.7 | 31.0 | 2.7 |
| Louisiana | 28.8 | 35.3 | -6.5 |
| Maine | 25.8 | 28.7 | -2.9 |
| Maryland | 28.3 | 29.2 | -1.0 |
| Massachusetts | 19.4 | 25.1 | -5.7 |
| Michigan | 28.9 | 32.2 | -3.3 |
| Minnesota | 24.6 | 28.6 | -4.0 |
| Mississippi | 38.4 | 31.0 | 7.3 |
| Missouri | 27.2 | 30.1 | -2.9 |
| Montana | 23.6 | 24.3 | -0.7 |
| Nebraska | 31.3 | 29.9 | 1.4 |
| Nevada | 24.8 | 25.7 | -1.0 |
| New Hampshire | 29.9 | 26.5 | 3.4 |
| New Jersey | 25.0 | 28.0 | -3.0 |
| New Mexico | 31.7 | 24.0 | 7.7 |
| New York | 22.4 | 24.6 | -2.2 |
| North Carolina | 30.4 | 28.6 | 1.7 |
| North Dakota | 32.0 | 32.1 | -0.1 |
| Ohio | 29.7 | 29.7 | 0.1 |
| Oklahoma | 28.9 | 30.5 | -1.6 |
| Oregon | 25.7 | 27.7 | -2.0 |
| Pennsylvania | 27.3 | 30.5 | -3.2 |
| Rhode Island | 25.8 | 25.2 | 0.6 |
| South Carolina | 31.1 | 28.7 | 2.4 |
| South Dakota | 26.0 | 27.3 | -1.3 |
| Tennessee | 34.8 | 28.6 | 6.2 |
| Texas | 30.7 | 30.0 | 0.6 |
| Utah | 23.1 | 26.8 | -3.7 |
| Vermont | 24.5 | 25.9 | -1.4 |
| Virginia | 25.7 | 27.8 | -2.1 |
| Washington | 27.2 | 28.3 | -1.1 |
| West Virginia | 35.4 | 32.4 | 3.0 |
| Wisconsin | 27.1 | 34.6 | -7.5 |
| Wyoming | 21.3 | 25.8 | -4.5 |
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