Study: Connecticut is among the skinniest states

Connecticut is one of the 10 “skinniest” states in the nation, according to a study released Tuesday by the financial website WalletHub.

In honor of November being National Diabetes Month, the site ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia from “fattest” (their word) to least fat, based on 25 metrics, including the percentage of the population that is obese and overweight to sugarybeverage consumption among adolescents to obesity-related health care costs.

Connecticut ranked 44th, making it one of the slimmest states in the nation. Indeed, the State of Obesity report released last month by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, showed that Connecticut’s obesity rate of 26.9 percent was the 10th lowest in the nation, although it was up from 16 percent in 2000.

The state, however, didn’t fare as well as Colorado, rated the skinniest state by WalletHub, with Utah, Hawaii, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia rounding out the slimmest five stats. Mississippi was ranked fattest, followed by West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Being overweight or obese does increase a person’s risk of diabetes, which roughly 30 million Americans have.

The WalletHub study cites recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showing that more than seven in 10 U.S. adults aged 20 and older are either overweight or obese and the U.S. spends nearly $200 billion in annual health care costs related to obesity.