Saturday, February 19, 2011

Southerners least likely to exercise–Really?

From the CDC comes a new study about physical inactivity and geography (everyman tri brought it to my attention).  Guess what?  Mississippi leading the again.  Well, actually not just Mississippi but the entire region.  Check out the map below.  I live in the middle of that sea of dark blue.

US_exercise

I’m in that dark blue sea.

According to the CDC -

States where residents are the least likely to be physically active during leisure time are Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee. In those states, physical inactivity rates are 29.2 percent or greater for more than 70 percent of the counties.

A 2008 CDC survey found that 25.4 percent of U.S. adults did not spend any of their free time being physically active, including activities such as walking for exercise, gardening, golfing or running.

CDC previously released maps with estimated levels of diabetes and obesity for all U.S. counties. Combining all three factors produces a map that shows the highest levels of diagnosed diabetes, leisure-time physical inactivity and obesity in the South and parts of Appalachia. The regions with the lowest levels of all three are the West and Northeast.

Physical activity can help control weight, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve mental health.

 

lamar_exercise

It is nice to know that I don’t actually live in that dark blue area.  I am on the border of the dark blue (about a mile from it).  My county is light blue one surrounded by the dark blue!  I do work in the dark blue area.

Here is an interactive map – check out your county – click here..

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw this on another blog as well and was glad to see we at least managed to get better than dark blue (I am also in Lamar County).