Telephone surveys of more than 400,000 people nationwide showed the Magnolia state had the highest rates of obesity followed by West Virginia and its neighbor Alabama. At the other end of the scale people in Colorado, Massachusetts and Hawaii were least likely to be obese - with less than a quarter of adults falling into the category. Experts blamed poor diets, less access to public spaces for exercise and little health insurance coverage in some areas for the obesity crisis - particularly in Mississippi.