phoebeisis

I was a bit unclear.They/we don't want to be fat,but they love food and don't exercise+ eat lots of fast food and lots of soft drinks+ fair amount of beer.

Now why don't folks in the south like to exercise? I don't know.
Of course most exercise isn't fun-bike riding is fun but many forms of formal exercise certainly aren't fun.
And it is HOT and MUGGY here 7 months a year (over 75 yesterday after being in the 30's 5 days ago)-so for most folks that rules out riding to work.
I just don't know why folks in the south are more overweight?
Perhaps it is as simple as the temperature humidity?
But in general the south is poorly educated-and to some degree there is still an anti-education bias
A writer- national columnist-Rasberry??-suggested that blacks had gotten the anti education bias(and other mores) from the "po southern whites" they interacted with "not trusting college boys" is a theme in many movies based in the south
They were big on grains(farmers) and lived on the edge especially after the civil war-so over eating-perhaps it is a natural response to near starvation buried in their cultural memory??
But french love to eat-and they aren't fat-and safe bet fair numbers of them were close to the edge during WW2-but that was just 5 years-the south was devastated after the war-and hit by various natural problems-floods drought crop pests malaria yellow fever

Obviously I have no idea why we are fat and don't exercise(it is HOT and you sweat IMMEDIATELY when you walk outside 7 months of the year-maybe the simplest explanation is IT)
Just don't know the why.
But that chart-thanks to Bcarfree-makes it clear-the south is more overweight than other parts of country-but I see a clod weather state(MICHIGAN?) is as "fat" so there goes the "too hot to exercise" hypothesis-
and it isn't clearly poverty-since my guess is the cold state-Michigan- is more affluent?