That's a map of state-by-state obesity trends in the US, measured by BMI (body mass index). That's a pretty rapid shift, in the 25 years from 1986 to 2010. Further data from the CDC here. I've written about obesity before, here for example, but it's always good to see the data in a larger context.

Global Obesity Trends, visualized

The Guardian's ever-reliable data blog has produced an interesting interactive graph showing how weight varies by country, continent, and gender. The screenshot above is a comparison of obesity weights among women on different continents. Overall, rates of obesity increased between 2002 and 2010 on every continent. The graph highlights three countries that bucked the trend. The other graphs show obesity rates among women compared with men in 2010 and among men in 2002 and 2010.

I've written before about food and obesity rates, here for example, and here. What do you think might be causing the increase in obesity worldwide? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Update: Here is a link to an interview with Michael Moss about the placement of salt, sugar and fat in our diets.

How to lose weight

FWIW, here's a link to the human weight simulator designed by a mathematician at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. I've been playing with it today. That's a screenshot of one of my scenarios: energy intake and expenditure for a 30 year old male weighing 200 pounds who wants to bring his weight down to 165 in 6 months, and keep it there. My assumption is that he'd increase his physical activity by 20%. Oh, and the starting point is a diet of 2,669 calories per day. That has to be brought down to 1904 calories for six months - but if my guy can keep up the increased physical activity permanently, he can increase  his consumption to 2456 calories a day.

Here's the Times interview, worth reading for its insights that, a) we're getting fatter because food is cheaper and b) weight change takes a long time.