More than a fifth of adults are obese in almost all the metropolitan areas surveyed by Gallup in 2010. The survey company found that 177 of 188 MSAs have at least 20 percent of residents who are seriously overweight. Evansville, Ind. leads the way with 38.7 percent. Boulder, Colo. has the least with 12.9 percent. Sacramento is about average with 22.4 percent.
The obesity data is part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a collection of indicators that includes: diabetes, frequent exercise, frequent consumption of produce, city optimism, and the uninsured. There's also an overall well-being score which is calculated from "an average of six sub-indexes: life evaluation, physical health, emotional health, healthy behavior, work environment, and basic access."
In terms of overall well-being, Boulder leads again with a score of 73.7 in 2010. Bringing up the rear is Huntington-Ashland, W.Va. at 58.1. Sacramento lands in the top third of metropolitan areas with a score of 67.0.
You can easily see detailed health stats for each of the MSAs with Gallup's interactive tracking chart which has data from 2008 and 2009, as well as 2010.
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