Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are the states with the biggest percentage in obesity. 30 percent of the adults are considered obese. It seems that poverty, eating habits and demographic groups in the Southern part have influenced the obesity rate. In contrast, Colorado was the least in obese percentage, with about 19 percent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the surveys last year and discovered that more than a quarter of all Americans tend to be obese. The percentage between 2005 and 2007 grew with about 2 percent.

Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana and West Virginia have always topped the list for obesity percentage, but Mississippi has had the highest obesity rate ever since 2004. Yet, the differences between the four states and Mississippi are only slightly observable.

This is considered to be a big problem because the South of the U.S. has had high death rates from stroke and heart disease that have easily been linked to obesity. And that’s not all. Not only adults are the ones having problems with obesity, but children do too, as Dr. Miriam Vos, assistant professor of pediatrics at Atlanta's Emory School of Medicine, told the Associated Press.

The diet that most southern residents use is high in fat and fried food, but the South also has a lot of rural residents and black women, who tend to become obese because of their race. While only 28.5 of Hispanics are obese, nearly 36 percent of black people raised the obesity rate.

Poverty in some states makes people buy cheaper food. But they forget that this food is calorie-heavy. Healthy food however remains more expensive for them to afford.