Stephan:   Obesity is a, no pun intended, huge problem in America, but it is not the same across all states. That is all the states have obesity rates higher than most other developed nations. But seven states lead the herd. And what do those seven states have in common? They are all Red value states, and I think that is a very important distinction. These are all also the leading fundamentalist Christian states. Clearly there is something about the Republican and conservative religious culture that encourages obesity and the poor health that results from that. If I had to speculate I would say this factor is that these state cultures and governments are not fact-based.