More than 70 percent of American adults are overweight or obese, according to federal health officials. Do we have a weight problem here in Illinois, too? Short answer: kind of.

Personal finance site WalletHub ranked each state, as well as Washington, D.C., based on more than two dozen key metrics, including the share of obese and overweight people, sugary drink consumption among adolescents, and obesity-related health care costs.

Before we get to Illinois' numbers, here's how WalletHub came up with their numbers:

WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) Obesity & Overweight Prevalence, 2) Health Consequences and 3) Food & Fitness.

We evaluated those dimensions using 25 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the fattest state. For metrics marked with an asterisk (*), we calculated the population size using the square root of the population in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across states.

Finally, we determined each state and the District’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

Let's kill the suspense and get right to where Illinois sits on the list.

Illinois ranks as the 28th fattest state in the United States.

Here's a breakdown of Illinois' numbers based upon a 100 point scale:

  • Total score:56.15
  • Obesity and overweight prevalence rank: 29
  • Health and consequences rank:30
  • Food and fitness rank:20

Mississippi was ranked the fattest state in the country overall, and claimed a spot in the top three for each category. West Virginia and Arkansas rounded out the top three.

Here are the top 10 fattest states and their overall scores:

1) Mississippi, 72.97
2) West Virginia, 70.14
3) Arkansas, 69.69
4) Kentucky, 67.71
5) Tennessee, 67.67
6) Louisiana, 66.89
7) Alabama, 64.56
8) South Carolina, 63.64
9) Oklahoma, 63.09
10) Texas, 62.45

And, the 5 least-fattest states in the Union:

  1. Colorado
  2. Utah
  3. Hawaii
  4. Massachusetts
  5. Washington, DC

Click here to read WalletHub's full piece, "2018’s Fattest States in America."

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