Louisiana no longer fattest

Louisiana is no longer the fattest state, primarily because other states got fatter, according to a report Thursday.
Louisiana’s adult obesity rate was 33.1 percent in 2013, which ranked it No. 6 in the country, according to the annual report by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The state had ranked No. 1 in 2012, with an adult obesity rate of 34.7 percent.
Thursday’s report, “The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America,’’ said no state decreased its obesity rate from 2012 to 2013. The rate increased by what the report’s authors called a statistically significant degree in Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming.
Nine of the 10 states with the highest obesity rates last year are in the South, the report said.
Factors in that include lower levels of physical activity, poor diets with higher amounts of fried foods, and higher poverty rates, experts say.
Nationally, there has been some progress in curbing obesity, the report said. It cited a leveling-off of rates among adults and declining rates among some pre-schoolers.
Thursday’s report also noted a racial disparity in obesity rates. The rate was 41.9 percent last year for blacks in Louisiana and 30.4 percent for whites.