Great news, Little Rock/North Little Rock/Conway. You too, Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers.
We've got fat wallets! This according to a Wallethub.com survey. The Little Rock area came in third and the Fayetteville area came in 35th in WalletHub's fattest cities list. We're rich!
Oh, fudge (mmm, chocolate)! It turns out this isn't about wallets at all.
We're just fat. Apparently we Arkansans just eat stuff that's rich ... and greasy and salty and sweet and fried and otherwise fantastic.
WalletHub, a site that offers free credit scores and reports, and says it's "dedicated to helping people efficiently attain top WalletFitness," last week focused more on physical fitness, releasing its 2017 "Fattest Cities in America" report (tinyurl.com/fatinAR).
The study compared 100 of the most populated U.S metro areas, using data collected from institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and comparing three dimensions: 1) Obesity & Overweight, 2) Weight-Related Health Problems and 3) Healthy Environment.
"Unfortunately, the extra pounds have inflated the costs of obesity-related medical treatment to nearly $316 billion a year and annual productivity losses due to work absenteeism to more than $8.6 billion," the study says. "But certain places are more responsible than others for tipping the scale in favor of bad health."
Certain places like the South at large (so to speak). The top 17 tubby cities are Southern.
And we in central and Northwest Arkansas might as well be wearing "Does This City Make Me Look Fat?" T-shirts. In size XXXXXXXXXXL.
The Little Rock area doesn't only take the cake (mmm, sugar) for being the the third fattest city, we rank fourth in Obesity & Overweight and third in Weight-Related Health Problems.
Still, we'd prefer to think of ourselves as third "curviest" city. And hey, at least we aren't as big as those heifers in Jackson, Miss. (No. 1 fattest city) and Memphis (No. 2 fattest, and one of our favorite places when we want ribs or just food that will stick to our ribs ... and thighs and midsection).
In less of a pickle (mmm, fried pickles ... with ranch) is the Fayetteville area, which comes in at 35th fattest city, ranks 27th in Obesity & Overweight and ranks 72nd in Weight-Related Health Problems. So ya'll to the northwest might have a bit of meat on your bones, but you're better at keeping it under wraps. The Ozarks must be slimming.
Is being fat our fault? Judging by Little Rock's Healthy Environment Rank, maybe not. The survey ranks us at only No. 14 out of 100, when taking into consideration things like access to parks and healthful foods. Fayetteville ranks at No. 29. Maybe it's not that we're gluttons. It's that we're geographically challenged.
But that's not the whole enchilada (mmm, Mexican food) when it comes to survey results.
Little Rock is ranked fourth in highest percentage of physically inactive adults. We clearly need to get more exercise. Perhaps we can do more walking ... inside fast-food restaurants, instead of using the drive-through. Get up and move more ... making multiple small trips to the buffet instead of one big one.
The study also notes that the Little Rock area has the highest percentage of adults eating fewer than one serving of fruits/vegetables per day. Now that is just sad, considering the abundant harvest of bacony collard greens, fried okra and blackberry cobbler available in our neck -- make that our double chin -- of the woods.
Clearly WalletHub didn't classify canned "Ro-Tel" as a proper vegetable. That would have significantly upped our produce intake. Hold up, Ro-Tel has diced chiles and tomatoes -- it's a vegetable and a fruit.
It's not that we don't eat enough produce, it's that we don't eat enough cheese dip. Enjoy with corn chips, yet another vegetable!
All shapes and sizes email:
What's in a Dame is a weekly report from the woman 'hood. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Style on 03/28/2017