In a state with high poverty and limited access to healthy nutritional options, it should come as no surprise that Mississippi has made little progress in addressing its obesity problem.
A recent report by 24/7 Wall Street - using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - highlighted the most obese county in each state, along with a state-by-state ranking.
Mississippi ranks at the top of the list, with the report claiming 35.1 percent of Mississippians are classified as obese.
Claiborne County - with a population of roughly 9,200 - leads the way among Mississippi counties.
Data shows the southwest Mississippi Delta county reports that 47.6 percent of the county’s inhabitants are obese.
In Claiborne County, the Mississippi Department of Health reports that only one year since 2007 has seen less than 30 deaths due to heart disease.
What’s more, the report says 38.1 percent of adults in the state do not exercise, which is surprisingly higher than the 34.5 percent of adults in Claiborne County who do not exercise.
Diabetes is also a prevalent problem associated with obesity and Mississippi is no exception.
Research cited in the report claims 12.9 percent of adults in Mississippi have been diagnosed with diabetes.
Oktibbeha County has seen a steady climb in the number of diabetes deaths per year since 2007, topping out at 27 in 2015, according to MSDH.
Many studies underscore a direct correlation between obesity and poverty, which further highlights the problems being seen in Claiborne County.
In the state’s most obese county, 41.2 percent of residents live below the poverty line.