Which NC city ranked highest among the 100 ‘fattest’ places in US? It wasn’t Raleigh

CHARLOTTE, NC (Mark Price/The Charlotte Observer) - A just-released list of the 100 “Fattest Cities in America” is not kind to the Carolinas, unless you live in Raleigh.

The state capital came in at No. 66 on the list, but was lauded for having the lowest percent of physically inactive adults in the survey, when comparing obesity data, weight-related illnesses and low consumption of healthy food.

North Carolina’s fattest city was Winston-Salem, and it also had one of the nation’s worst rates of high cholesterol, according to WalletHub’s data. It came in at No. 26, followed by Greensboro-High Point (No. 32); the Charlotte-Concord metro area (No. 39) and Asheville (No. 49).

South Carolina got blindsided by the study, ranking high in the worst sense.

The state capital, Columbia, was listed at No. 14 and the Myrtle Beach/Conway area rounded out the 20 worst cities. In addition, the Greenville-Anderson area was No. 23 and the Charleston area came in at No. 30, according to WalletHub, a personal finance website.

The fattest city in the nation is McAllen, Texas, where people clearly believe in “everything is bigger in Texas,” including bellies.

McAllen had an adult obesity rate of 44.9 percent, and had one of the nation’s highest percentages of physically inactive adults and adults with diabetes, said WalletHub.

WalletHub said it came up with the list by comparing “100 of the most populated U.S. metro areas across 19 key indicators.”

“Our data set ranges from share of physically inactive adults to projected obesity rates by 2030 to healthy-food access,” said WalletHub.