With November being National Diabetes Awareness Month and obesity costing the healthcare system around $173 billion each year, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on 2025‘s Most Overweight & Obese States in America.
Being overweight is becoming the new normal in America. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, four in 10 U.S. adults aged 20 and older are obese, with one in 10 being severely obese. Rates are lower for children and adolescents but have risen drastically in the past few decades. So prevalent has America’s obesity problem grown that the weight-loss and diet control industry is massive, worth at least $90 billion. In addition, obesity costs our health care system around $173 billion per year.
Recent findings by the Physical Activity Council suggest a need for more aggressive efforts to combat the issue. According to the report, 61.8 million Americans aged 6 and older were completely inactive in 2024. Lack of physical activity is a leading cause of obesity, in addition to genetics, emotional instability and sleeplessness.
The problem is bigger in some states than in others, though. To determine where obesity and overweight most dangerously persist, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 31 key metrics. Our data set ranges from the share of obese and overweight population to sugary-beverage consumption among adolescents to obesity-related health care costs.
Obesity & Overweight Problem in South Carolina (1=Most Overweight; 25=Avg.):
- Overall Rank for South Carolina: 13th
- 15th – % of Obese Adults
- 14th – % of Overweight Children
- 18th – % of Obese Children
- 11th – % of Physically Inactive Adults
- 21st – % of Adults with High Cholesterol
- 22nd – % of Adults Eating Less than 1 Serving of Fruits/Vegetables per Day
- 8th – % of Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
- 11th – % of Adults with Hypertension
- 30th – Obesity-Related Death Rate
