North Dakota, Minnesota ranked in new obesity study

From Cheese Curds to Funnel Cakes, the Red River Valley Fair isn't exactly the place to find foods for a healthy lifestyle.

Alissa Matson - Fargo: “Nothing here is good for you, so it's all junk food but its great.”

North Dakota ranks in the bottom half when it comes to obesity with a rate of 28-percent...good for 21st fattest in the country. Minnesota, on the other hand, ranks 38th. But not a single state saw a drop in obesity rates from 2010 to 2011.

Maren Wolsky – Dietician Sanford Hospital: “It's not that people don't know what a healthy food choice is but it's mainly the lack of activity these days. It seems like technology does what our muscles used to do.”

Up and down food row here, you can find some of the unhealthiest foods imaginable. But everyone we talked to said in a situation like this, it's okay to give yourself a break.

David Doohen - Fargo: “Well actually I did think about what I was going to eat, but then I threw caution to the wind and said I'm just going to go for it and eat whatever I can get my hands on.”

Wolsky: “So it's good to celebrate and enjoy those foods that you really enjoy and only get to have once a year. But be mindful of portions and maybe be more physically active the next day or the day of.”

Dietician's say those fair foods are a fair choice...in moderation. But it's what we eat when we're not at the fair that's ballooning waist lines and driving obesity rates up nationwide.

The highest obesity rates are in the South, with Mississippi leading the way at more than 34-percent. Colorado was the only state under 20 percent.

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