Study: El Paso Has One of the Highest Percentages of Overweight, Physically Inactive Residents

The results of Wallethub’s 2021 Most Overweight and Obese Cities in the U.S. are in, and to paraphrase El Paso’s favorite Hawaiian shirt wearing comedian; we’re not fat, we’re fluffy.

The financial site looked at the 100 most populated metro areas in the U.S. across 19 “weight-related inductors,” such as share of overweight and obese adults and teens, the number of adults with health issues related to weight, and the percentage of physically inactive adults and determined El Pasoans have collectively gone from 2020's plus-sized #31 overall ranking to this year’s more-to-love #32 spot.

That means we didn’t put on as many pandemic pounds as other cities and slid down a notch.

But when you isolate the "Obesity and Overweight" and "Foot and Fitness" categories (#24 and #27, sadly), it’s clear El Pasoans are not doing enough squats. In fact, we’re doing diddly squat.

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According to the study, El Paso has some of the highest percentage of residents who are both "obese & overweight," and "physically inactive," which is just a nice way of saying we're a city full of fat, lazy people.

Good to know I’m not the only one who can no longer tell where my butt ends and the couch begins. But, in my defense I have been trying to lose weight. It’s just that I have a problem with my hands. I can’t seem to keep them from opening the refrigerator or the cupboard where all the snacks are.

The study also found El Paso has the highest percentage of diabetic adults in the entire U.S. of A. And as you may have heard, diabetes is no bueno. Complications include heart disease, blindness, and the inability to squeeze into a booth at Chico’s Tacos.