Health professionals say Louisiana culture is largely to blame for nation-leading obesity rate

Louisiana is now recognized as the most obese state in the nation, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2013, a new report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report found that Louisiana’s adult obesity rate is 34.7%. This marks the first time in eight years Mississippi, at 34.6%, is no longer the state with the highest obesity rate. “The problem is our way of life,” Svetlana Gavrilova, a registered dietitian supervisor at E.A. Conway Medical Center in Monroe tells The Town Talk. “Obesity has become accepted,” she says. “People in Louisiana think nothing is wrong with it.” Gavrilova says it wasn’t much of a surprise to see Louisiana at the top of the list, considering the prevalence of rich, fried and fatty foods in the state. Louisiana is not only known for its heavier dishes, from gumbo to po-boys to étouffée—it’s celebrated for them. “It’s the cultural norm to have high-fat meals. Everything has to be deep fried, and you can’t just have fried fish and a side salad—the meal must come with hush puppies and fries,” she says. “It’s become a cultural staple here.” Dr. Clint Guillory, an emergency medicine physician at St. Francis Medical Center, says many of the cases he sees in the emergency department are obesity-related conditions, such as hypertension and heart attacks. Guillory cites a culture of physical inactivity as the primary reason for high obesity rates in the state and nation. Read the full story.