Yes

Religion, conservatism, poverty, ignorance and lack of education cause all kinds of problems.

@St-Sinner You might be reading too much into your statistics. Correlation does not always imply cause.

In many cases there are various causes that have not been looked at. I see this a lot where people will reel off about every attribute they dislike and attempt to link those attributes together, thereby demonizing and stereotyping entire classes of people, portraying them as “the others”, the undesirables.

Just a little bit of thinking should upset your theory. Look at Al Gore, a very devout Baptist, considered a liberal Democrat. Is religion causing a lot of problems for him? And fellow multimillionaire Hillary Clinton is an evangelical Methodist.

Conservative ideals are very commendable IMO. Trying to link conservatism with ignorance and obesity is just going too far.

The poorest state by far is California, a blue state. Does that prove that voting democrat causes poverty?

@WilliamFleming
That makes sense. Rich states like Alabama, Mississippi think Jesus walked on water and California is a poor state.

@St-Sinner California has a higher poverty rate than any other state:

[latimes.com]

Of course there is also a lot of wealth in California.

So far as Alabama and Mississippi, those states are not as poor as they seem. If you figure cost of living into the equation New York is poorer than Mississippi.

[mises.org]

@WilliamFleming
You are a classic case of inconvenient and convenient truths. Jesus resurrected but California is a poor state. You pick and choose the truth you like very selectively. Every state is good and bad in something. If New York is good in everything, it is still Yankees to the South.

[investopedia.com]

[investopedia.com]

There is no denying that California is a rich state with a bigger economy and exports in the world than the states sitting st the bottom in the nation in most good categories. Bill Maher's "America Most Stupid States" contest was constantly won by the Southern states.

@St-Sinner I haven’t said a word about the resurrection. Where does that come from?

You can not dispute that California’s poverty rate is the highest in the nation. So far as Alabama, Mississippi, and New Mexico, unless you figure in the cost of living you are talking about nothing. I should know because I’ve lived in both Alabama and Alaska. I can assure you that my retirement dollars go much farther in Alabama and that I live here with more abundance.

Why do you denigrate and disparage the South? Can you explain why you think that is a good thing to do? After all, according to your bio you live in Texas, a southern state. My grandmother used to say that if you can’t think of something good to say it’s best to say nothing.

So far as educational attainment, many of the southern states rank higher than the national average.

[en.m.wikipedia.org]

Alabama and Mississippi are only a couple of percentage points below the national average, hardly anything you’d notice unless you have an agenda to preach. I see that California ranks 51. Hmm...

Agreed. Being poor and fat aren't signs of low intelligence. They are a symptom of modern life, specifically for the working poor.

Healthy food is 2.5 more expensive and goes bad more quickly, not a good choice to make when you can barely afford groceries at all. Gyms are also expensive. That 20$ a month means a lot when you make 18,000 a year and those two.or three hours a week you need to exercise are generally spent working or resting from the 50 + hour work week most working poor average. 

I get so damn tired of people shitting all over working people. They aren't making stupid choices. Most people simply don't understand the economics of working poverty and that makes the assholes who like to feel superior the actual ignorant fucks in this equation.

Speaking from the bible belt, the lack of outdoor opportunities is a contributor. Also the number of days that it isn't hot as hell or cold as hell is pretty small.

Florida is 35 among 51. Does that make you happy?

@St-Sinner I surprised considering how religious they are here

@MrChange Certainly there's a whole lot of religion, but Florida is thoroughly diluted by people from all over the country having moved here. It is thoroughly diverse.

Meaning, I'd bet there's a strong link between "poor people food" and obesity. Also states with expanded Medicaid

@JamesUC population level stars don't work like that. Anyhow, if the local grocery store sells cases of crappy food for cheap, what would you expect most people to eat? Especially if they grew up eating it? And don't have the knowledge to make a choice? Youre not the average person.

Store that focus on selling "healthy" food can and will charge more for it, and they tend to only open in wealthier areas. Weirdly, the super saturation of Wal-Mart's and their huge distribution network, has actually helped with this.

Anyhow people are notorious for buying whatever stores are trying to sell them

You think Education and Progressive are correlated to Eating Habits and Obesity?

@St-Sinner how about using some intelligence towards dietary choices? I hear in America they got cheese in aerosol cans.

@oldFloyd Constipation in a can. It sure is good, though! (Personal note: I have not eaten any of that stuff in years, lol.)

@greyeyed123 that actually came from a national lampoon radio hour called immigrants, the hillbillies and their dreams and aspirations for their new life in America. Never tried it myself.