There was a feature on CBS’s Sunday Morning program this morning touting the active lifestyle of Coloradans as the reason that the state has the lowest rate of obesity of any state in the nation. Maybe. It might also have something to do with the state’s median age: 34.5, the sixth lowest. Other states with low median ages are Idaho, California, Arizona, Georgia, Alaska, Texas, and, at a median age of 28, Utah. I notice, by the way, that, with the exception of Alaska and Idaho, all of these states are among those with the highest per capita rate of illegal immigration.
Illegal immigration may be related to obesity rates in any number of ways. For example, immigrants (particularly illegal immigrants) tend to be younger and younger people tend to be slimmer. It’s also been observed that recent immigrants are slimmer than their native counterparts (I have my doubts about this since I think it’s probably age-biased). I also think it’s likely that illegal immigrants aren’t represented in the statistics to the extent that they are in the general population which means the larger the proportion of illegal immigrants in the population of a state, the less meaningful the statistics are.
Additionally, the level of obesity varies with race. Is saying that the rate of obesity in Colorado is lower than, say, Illinois just another way of saying that the proportion of African Americans is lower?
However, accepting the statistic, are they proposing a Jack Benny model of healthy lifestyle? Jack famously (and hilariously) remained 39 for thirty years or more. That reminds me of a funny exchange when the young Marilyn Monroe on Jack’s television program:
Jack: Why won’t you date me, Marilyn? Does the difference in our ages concern you7
Marilyn: Well, Jack, I’m 25 and you’re 39. But in 25 years I’ll be 50 and you’ll still be 39.
Are we to remain in our thirties for the rest of our lives?
I watched that segment with interest since I spent my first 25 years growing up and living there and most of my family still lives there. While I think you may be on to something with age, there is definitely an outdoor, active culture in Colorado that I haven’t seen in other states I’ve lived in (Florida, Ohio, Texas, DC ). Washington state (the Bellingham area) was similar in to the Colorado outdoor culture. Of course, my family is part of the active culture – my father, for example, is 84 and is out hiking in Utah right now and my brother and sister are out hiking at least a couple of times a week.