Fun with health maps!

You didn't know obesity could be this fun, could you? Well, obesity is no laughing matter, but maps can be interesting. Some of these might require Javascript or Flash so make sure they are turned on in your browser first.

CountyHealthRankings.org: map many health issues by US county like obesity rate, adult smoking, inactivity, teen births, uninsured, high school graduation, unemployment, children in poverty, income inequality, violent crime, physical environment, air pollution, drinking water violations, severe housing problems, and more.

A US health map with time slider. Map many factors, one at a time, and see how they changed over time. Some of the items you can map: alcohol use (any at all, binge drinking, and more), hypertension (various factors), life expectancy, obesity, physical activity (various types), poverty, smoking (daily and total).

78% of Americans are overweight or obese. (WHO 2010). A world map showing how common obesity is by country. Look at which nations have the "western diet". Now Finland, north and west of Germany, does surprise me at 67% overweight and obese. On this map you can also see cholesterol levels and tobacco use.

WHO obesity and overweight maps.

CDC: 2014, 28.9 percent of Americans who are obese, average for US, and by state. You can also see other indictors like overweight (child or adult), and older years.

CDC: Obese people have higher medical costs as a group.

Not everyone who has a high BMI is unhealthy. These include body builders, football players (who tend to be large) and people who get regular exercise. There is correlation that overweight people are unhealthy, because many of them rarely exercise. That does not mean all overweight people are unhealthy.

The cost of healthcare for multiple countries

"A teaspoon of sugar is equal to 4 grams of sugar."

When trying to compare the amount a country spends on healthcare you just can't take their currency and convert it to dollars, you have to use a ratio of some kind, such as:

• cost per citizen per year
• total spending on healthcare vs GDP

Here's a graphic from National Geographic about the cost of healthcare vs the life expectancy. As you can see the US spends a HUGE amount of money with little increase in life span for it. In fact, US spending for healthcare is off the charts.


Here's a graphic about healthcare spending as a percent of GDP for many countries. Even countries with socialized medicine spend less per GDP, however their income taxes are also a bit higher than in the US.