15. New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is known for its indulgent Creole cuisine, featuring calorie-heavy dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, and beignets. These rich meals, combined with a slower-paced lifestyle and limited physical activity in the city, contribute to New Orleans’ higher obesity rates.
14. Los Angeles, California
While Los Angeles is often seen as a health-conscious city, it has its share of overweight residents. The city’s obsession with food culture, large portion sizes, and reliance on driving instead of walking contribute to a growing obesity problem in the area, despite the focus on fitness and wellness.
13. Las Vegas, Nevada
Sin City is notorious for its all-you-can-eat buffets, sugary cocktails, and indulgent food options available at every corner. Residents and visitors alike often overindulge, and the fast-paced nightlife paired with sedentary habits means that many in Las Vegas are struggling with obesity.
12. Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta has a rich food culture known for Southern classics like fried chicken, biscuits, and sugary sweet tea. Unfortunately, these indulgent foods, combined with a car-dependent lifestyle and limited public transportation, contribute to lower levels of physical activity and rising obesity rates. The city’s growing reliance on fast food, alongside the lack of accessible outdoor spaces, makes it a prime location for the weight crisis.
11. Houston, Texas
Houston is a sprawling city with a booming food scene—especially comfort foods, BBQ, and fast food. The combination of a car-centric culture, limited opportunities for walking, and the abundance of calorie-rich foods contributes to the city’s rising obesity rates.
10. Detroit, Michigan
Detroit faces many socio-economic challenges, including poverty and limited access to fresh, healthy foods. These factors, combined with a lack of public parks and walking spaces, have led to high obesity rates as residents often resort to cheaper, processed food options and struggle to find opportunities for exercise.
9. Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis has one of the highest obesity rates in the U.S. Many of the city’s residents indulge in high-fat, high-sugar comfort foods, and the region’s cold winters make outdoor exercise more difficult. This combination of food culture and weather has made Indianapolis a top contender in the weight crisis.
8. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City has a deep love for hearty Southern food, often rich in fats and sugars. Fast food chains and fried foods dominate the city’s food scene, and with a relatively sedentary lifestyle, many residents find it hard to maintain a healthy weight. This, combined with limited options for outdoor activity, drives up obesity rates.
7. Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix residents often face extreme heat, which discourages outdoor physical activity for much of the year. The result is a population that leans toward sedentary lifestyles. Plus, the abundance of cheap, fast food and a love for fried cuisine contribute to the rising obesity rates in this desert city.
6. Louisville, Kentucky
Known for its bourbon and rich comfort food, Louisville’s food culture is deeply embedded in the city’s lifestyle. Southern specialties like fried chicken and mashed potatoes are common staples, which paired with a relatively inactive lifestyle, make the city one of the heaviest in the country.
5. Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is famous for its BBQ, and while the food is delicious, it’s also high in calories and fats. Residents tend to enjoy indulgent meals without a strong culture of exercise, and the sedentary lifestyle, combined with the abundance of comfort food, makes Memphis one of the most obese cities in the U.S.
4. Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham’s food culture is deeply influenced by Southern cooking, with fried foods, biscuits, and gravies as common staples. These calorie-rich dishes, along with limited outdoor activities and a lack of walkability, have made Birmingham one of the cities hit hardest by obesity.
3. Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi is a city known for its love of hearty, fried foods and comfort meals. The combination of high-calorie Southern food, sedentary lifestyles, and limited access to healthy food options make Jackson one of the unhealthiest cities in the United States.
2. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, faces many of the same issues as New Orleans when it comes to food. Traditional Cajun and Creole dishes are often fried and heavy, contributing to the city’s obesity crisis. The lifestyle of many residents, combined with a lack of physical activity, has led to high obesity rates in Baton Rouge.
1. McAllen, Texas
McAllen consistently ranks at the top of the list for the heaviest cities in America. The city’s strong cultural ties to Tex-Mex cuisine—rich in cheese, meat, and tortillas—combined with limited access to healthy food options and a sedentary lifestyle, makes McAllen the hardest-hit by the obesity epidemic in the U.S. The combination of socio-economic factors, poor diet, and lack of physical activity drives this city’s obesity problem to the forefront.
