The Trust for America's Health has found that seven of the ten US states with the highest rates of obesity in 2011 were also in the bottom ten for fruit and vegetable consumption.
The latest edition of the non-profit organisation's annual F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Futurereportalso shows that five of the states with the top ten obesity rankings were among the top ten for fresh produce consumption.
Mississippi, Louisiana, West Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Kentucky – all of which fall below the Mason-Dixon Line that is often held to symbolise a cultural boundary between the northeastern US and the southern US – appeared at the wrong end of both rankings.
Fruit and vegetable consumption rates for the seven were found to be around 8-13 per cent among adults.
The northeastern states of Connecticut and New York, as well as California, Hawaii and the District of Columbia, showed adult fresh produce consumption rates of 20-26 per cent and were among the least obese areas.
