In 1909, the US’s first baseball stadium was constructed in Pittsburgh, PA. In 1913, the country’s first automobile service station opened in the same city. Turn back the clock to 1784 to find the first daily newspaper published in Philadelphia, PA, where the first presidential mansion resides. The Declaration of Independence was signed nine years earlier.
The first public zoo in the US was the Philadelphia Zoo, founded by Benjamin Franklin, whose face resides on the 100-dollar bill. Fairmount Park in Philadelphia is the largest city park spanning 8,000 acres. The longest-running live-action television show in history, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, is set in the city of brotherly love.
While Rob McElhenney transformed his physique from blubber-bound to shredded, the state of Pennsylvania did not share the same fate. In the decade spanning 2012 to 2022, only two of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties reduced their populations’ obesity percentages — Cambria and Columbia — by a single point. Allegheny held its obesity percentage static at 29 percent. The other 64 counties all saw an increase in their populations’ obesity percentage. Check out the infographic below for more details:
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[Related: Pennsylvania’s 50 Top Cities for Fit Lifestyles]
Adams fare the worst of all 67 counties, suffering a 10-point jump in its population’s obesity since 2012, going from 26 to 36 percent. Four counties increased nine percent in obesity: Susquehanna, Lackawanna, Greene, and Clearfield, all of which are at or above 35 percent obesity as of 2022.
The most obese county in Pennsylvania as of 2022 is Forest, which saw an eight-point jump to 40 percent obesity since 2012. Only two counties have sub-30 percent obesity: Chester and Allegheny, both of which are at 29 percent. On average, more than one in three people in Pennsylvania are considered obese in 2022.
Chester and Allegheny were also the two counties that performed best when comparing their obesity percentages to the state average over the decade, each dropping four points. Forest county was the weakest when graded on the curve, hopping seven points. Fayette and Somerset were close by, each leaping six points.
Featured image via Shutterstock/Sean Pavone
