Look How Quickly The U.S. Got Fat (1985-2010 Animated Map)

James Hamblin | The Atlantic | April 11, 2013

25 brief, delicious years

This shows the percentages of the U.S. population medically defined as obese, which means a body mass index of 30 or greater. BMI isn't an ideal metric to evaluate obesity, but it's still what the U.S. standardly uses.

By now everyone knows obesity is a serious issue, but it always helps me to see things moving and in color, and makes the "epidemic" terminology make sense. [...]