WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- More than one in five adults are obese in every state in the United States, according to new data released Thursday from the country's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Estimates vary across states, ranging from 22.3 percent in Colorado to 37.7 percent in West Virginia, the U.S. CDC said.
Five states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia -- have a rate of obesity higher than 35 percent.
The proportion exceeded 30 percent in 25 states and 25 percent in 47 states. Only three states -- Colorado, Hawaii, and Massachusetts -- and the District of Columbia have an obesity rate between 20 percent to 25 percent.
The data, based on self-reported information from the country's 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, showed that U.S. adults are "still struggling" with obesity, the CDC said.
It also found the South had the highest prevalence of obesity (32.0 percent), followed by the Midwest (31.4 percent), the Northeast (26.9 percent), and the West (26.0 percent).
Adults with more education were less likely to report being obese, it said. Adults without a high school education had the highest self-reported obesity (35.5 percent), followed by high school graduates (32.3 percent), adults with some college (31 percent), and college graduates (22.2 percent).
In addition, young adults were half as likely to have obesity as middle-aged adults. Adults aged 18 to 24 had the lowest self-reported obesity (17.3 percent) compared to adults aged 45 to 54 who had the highest prevalence (35.1 percent).
"Preventing and reducing obesity in the United States will require action by many parts of society," the CDC said.
"State and community leaders, employers, government agencies, healthcare providers, and many others can help make it easier for adults and their families to move more and eat healthier to reduce the risk of obesity."
