New Study Shines Light on a Growing Problem for Maine

Imagine the entire state of Maine waiting in an exam room to see the doctor.

Now, picture that doctor coming in and telling us all these magical words:

"Maine, we need to talk about your weight."

Those words are always horrendous to hear. Heck, I have heard them myself. But this phrase is extremely important, because being overweight can lead to a plethora of other health issues that can negatively affect the rest of your life.

Now, there's a reason I used 'Maine' in the phrase. That's because a new study suggests that Maine is the most overweight state in New England, and the 20th most in the entire country. That's not good, folks.

WalletHub.com, a personal finance and lifestyle website, was the site behind the most overweight and obese states report.

Maine's total score in the study was a 60.86 out of a possible 100 total points. It placed the Pine Tree State between South Dakota at 19 and Michigan at 21. The scoring was based on three major categories: obesity & overweight prevalence, health consequences, and food & fitness. These categories were broken down into 31 subcategories to make it as accurate as possible. You can read more about the methodology here.

Maine actually didn't do poorly in the obese & overweight prevalence category. The state was ranked just 35th. However, the consequences of being unhealthy seems very dire here. Maine finished as the second highest state in this category. This means Mainers are very likely to end up with debilitating diseases like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity-related cancers.

As for food and fitness, Maine was rather average with a 23rd ranking. I was a bit surprised by this, considering we are known for amazing food and our outdoor playground. I guess we are picking the savory and sweets over the greens a little too much.

The rest of New England did considerably better than Maine. Here are those rankings. A reminder, the lower, the better.

29. Rhode Island
31. New Hampshire
36. Connecticut
42. Vermont
49. Massachusetts

Congrats to the healthiest state on the survey, Colorado. Those crunchy fools had an incredible low score of 43.46.

As for the most overweight & obese state, that would be wild and wonderful West Virginia (go Mountaineers!) with a crazy 75.61 score. Mountain Staters should probably get outside and, you know, enjoy those mountains.

Hopefully 2024 will bring a healthier year for us Mainers. I know I need to do my part.