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  Volume 
	8: No. 4, July 2011 
ORIGINAL RESEARCHUsing Small-Area Estimation Method to Calculate County-Level Prevalence of Obesity in Mississippi, 2007-2009
| County | 2009 Prevalence of Obesity, % | Healthy People 2010 Goal, % | 2009 National Average, % | 2009 Mississippi State Average, % |  
| Lowest 10% | 15.0 | 27.1 | 35.4 |  
| Lamar | 30.5 |  
| Hancock | 30.9 |  
| DeSoto | 30.9 |  
| Rankin | 31.1 |  
| Tishomingo | 31.2 |  
| Lafayette | 31.6 |  
| Itawamba | 31.6 |  
| Madison | 31.9 |  
| Highest 10% |  
| Noxubee | 41.0 |  
| Sharkey | 41.1 |  
| Quitman | 41.2 |  
| Tunica | 41.2 |  
| Humphreys | 41.8 |  
| Claiborne | 42.0 |  
| Holmes | 42.7 |  
| Jefferson | 44.2 |  Figure 1. 2009 Mississippi County prevalence of obesity, BRFSS data. Ten percent of the counties with the lowest and highest obesity 
rates are shown. The vertical line at 15% indicates the 
Healthy People 2010 goal for obesity; vertical lines at 27.1%, and 35.4% 
indicate the 2009 national and state averages, respectively. Return to article Figure 2 indicates that counties with the highest obesity prevalence were clustered in the Mississippi Delta region and along the Mississippi River. 
Counties along the coastline and in the northeast region (Appalachian foothills) 
had lower obesity rates, as did counties with higher socioeconomic status, such 
as Madison and Rankin counties.  
| County | 2009 Prevalence of Obesity, % | County | 2009 Prevalence of Obesity, % | Quartiles, % |  
| Lamar | 30.5 | Simpson | 35.5 | 30.5 - 33.3 |  
| Hancock | 30.9 | Yalobusha | 35.6 | 33.4 - 35.5 |  
| DeSoto | 30.9 | Franklin | 35.6 | 35.6 - 37.9 |  
| Rankin | 31.1 | Attala | 35.9 | 38.0 - 44.2 |  
| Tishomingo | 31.2 | Leake | 35.9 |  |  
| Lafayette | 31.6 | Winston | 35.9 |  |  
| Itawamba | 31.6 | Benton | 36.0 |  |  
| Madison | 31.9 | Scott | 36.2 |  |  
| Alcorn | 31.9 | Grenada | 36.4 |  |  
| Lee | 32.0 | Wayne | 36.5 |  |  
| Union | 32.1 | Chickasaw | 36.5 |  |  
| Harrison | 32.2 | Montgomery | 36.6 |  |  
| Pearl River | 32.4 | Amite | 36.8 |  |  
| Pontotoc | 32.4 | Walthall | 36.9 |  |  
| George | 32.5 | Hinds | 36.9 |  |  
| Prentiss | 32.6 | Pike | 37.0 |  |  
| Jackson | 32.7 | Adams | 37.2 |  |  
| Tippah | 33.1 | Panola | 37.4 |  |  
| Webster | 33.2 | Marshall | 37.7 |  |  
| Neshoba | 33.3 | Clay | 37.9 |  |  
| Stone | 33.3 | Copiah | 38.0 |  |  
| Oktibbeha | 33.3 | Jasper | 38.2 |  |  
| Forrest | 33.5 | Yazoo | 38.7 |  |  
| Smith | 33.6 | Kemper | 39.1 |  |  
| Jones | 33.8 | Jefferson Davis | 39.2 |  |  
| Calhoun | 34.0 | Leflore | 39.6 |  |  
| Tate | 34.4 | Washington | 39.6 |  |  
| Newton | 34.6 | Bolivar | 39.7 |  |  
| Perry | 34.6 | Tallahatchie | 39.9 |  |  
| Greene | 34.7 | Issaquena | 40.0 |  |  
| Lauderdale | 34.7 | Sunflower | 40.2 |  |  
| Lincoln | 34.8 | Coahoma | 40.5 |  |  
| Monroe | 34.9 | Wilkinson | 41.0 |  |  
| Choctaw | 35.1 | Noxubee | 41.0 |  |  
| Lawrence | 35.1 | Sharkey | 41.1 |  |  
| Lowndes | 35.2 | Quitman | 41.2 |  |  
| Covington | 35.2 | Tunica | 41.2 |  |  
| Carroll | 35.3 | Humphreys | 41.8 |  |  
| Marion | 35.4 | Claiborne | 42.0 |  |  
| Warren | 35.4 | Holmes | 42.7 |  |  
| Clarke | 35.5 | Jefferson | 44.2 |  |  Figure 2. 2009 Mississippi County prevalence of obesity 
map 
(in quartiles), BRFSS data. Lighter colors represent lower obesity rate, and 
darker colors represent higher obesity rate. Return to article | 
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