New Jerseyans Are Becoming Significantly Fatter, CDC says

New Jersey joined other northeast states in being ranked one of the least obese states in the country, according to a new report compiled by the personal finance website, WalletHub.

The maps reflect the latest statistics published by the Center for Disease Control and lists New Jersey in the 25th to 30th percentile, joining New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, and others.

While this might seem like a sigh of relief, New Jersey has been on a negative trend over the last decade, along with just about every other state.

In 2011, New Jersey was among one of the fittest states in the nation, being in only the 20th to 25th percentile. Coincidentally, not one state was in the 35th percentile and above in 2011. In the most recent statistics released, there were nine states in the 35th percentile and above.

So as a whole, America is getting fatter.

The report also goes on to say that obesity costs the country big bucks: $1.7 trillion ($480 billion in healthcare and $1.24 trillion in loss of productivity).

Childhood obesity is also a considerable problem in New Jersey, and in the entire country, "Obesity prevalence among children and adolescents is still too high," according to the CDC.

In the most recent data compiled in 2018, the CDC estimates that 18.7% of the child population, or 13.7 million children, are considered obese in the United States.

Data collected in 2015-2016, there were 93.3 million adults in the United States that were considered obese, which is a whopping 39.8% of the American population.

If you or someone you know is suffering from being overweight or obese and wants help, there is a plethora of information on the CDC's website that could help.

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