LOS ANGELES, CA — More Americans are packing on weight, and a new study indicates several of the top 100 cities with the most obese populations in the United States are in California.
According to WalletHub, nearly 42% of U.S. adults are obese, and the collective weight gain has driven up the costs of treating obesity to about $190.2 billion a year.
“Obesity is becoming more and more prevalent in the U.S., and it’s costing us big time. In the most overweight and obese cities, residents often lack easy access to healthy food and recreation opportunities, so investing in those areas should help improve people’s diets and exercise regimens and reduce the financial burden overall,” WalletHub said.
Riverside ranked highest among California cities on the list at #38, followed by Los Angeles at #76, San Diego at #84, Sacramento at #90, and San Jose at #96.
For the study, WalletHub compared 100 of the most populated metro areas in the country using 19 key indicators of weight issues.
They looked at health conditions that residents have such as the percentage of adults with high blood pressure and heart-disease rate. The also evaluated the percent of the population that is obese as well as physically inactive.
They also looked at the share of adults with high Ccholesterol, the share of adults with low fruit/vegetable diets, and access to parks & recreational facilities.
The top 10 most obese cities across the US, included:
1. Little Rock, AR
2. McAllen, TX
3. Memphis, TN
4. Jackson, MS
5. Augusta, GA
6. Lafayette, LA
7. Fayetteville, AR
8. Shreveport, LA
9. Mobile, AL
10. Baton Rouge, LA
See which U.S. cities made WalletHub’s full list and how they scored.