7 States Now Have an Obesity Rate of More than 35% (They're all red states)

[Aristus]

3. While it's easy (and accurate) to blame gluttony and fatty Southern food,

there is also still a lot of misinformation out there regarding such sugary, fattening products as Gatorade and Powerade, sports drinks, monster drinks, energy drinks, etc.

Gatorade and the others are marketed as health drinks, and they're not. They're incredibly bad for you, loaded with sugar and all kinds of other things you don't need. And there's a concerted effort on the part of the beverage companies to get these unhealthy products offered in schools, at Little League games and other youth sports endeavors, at parks, picnics, and summer camps.

Childhood obesity is the biggest risk factor for adult obesity.

I've had patients weighing in excess of 400lbs, with uncontrolled diabetes and triglyceride levels, tell me they drink lots of Gatorade "because it's good for you, right?"

I tell them the truth about these beverages, which surprises most of them, and then the ones who truly want to get better quit drinking them, after which, they show marked weight loss and better and easier control of their diabetes.

In the South, drinking soda has been so embedded in the culture (I'm looking at you, Georgia-based Coca-Cola!) that it has become an unshakeable part of regional identity.