Most Obese Cities - The 16 Fattest Cities in America (GALLERY)

It’s no secret America is battling an obesity epidemic, but reports are usually pretty generalized. Fried chicken in the south, McDonalds on every major street, and donuts at every truck stop along the way don’t so much help the one third of obese Americans battle their bulges.

Forbes magazine compiled a list of the American cities with the highest rates of obesity. I’m not talking about being overweight; these percentages indicate the number of people diagnosed with clinical obesity in the following areas:

34.0% - Memphis, Tenn
31.3% - Birmingham, Ala.
31.1% - San Antonio, Texas
30.8% - Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif.
30.4% - Detroit
29.8% - Jacksonville, Fla.
28.8% - Nashville, Tenn.
27.5% - Oklahoma City
26.9% - Kansas City, Mo.
26.7% - San Diego, Calif.
26.3% - Cincinnati, Ohio
26.0% - Indianapolis
25.8% - New Orleans
25.8% - Baltimore
25.8% - Virginia Beach, Va.
25.6% - Atlanta

Surprised? What’s important to note is that this illness doesn’t just strike a certain sector of society; from the poorest of the poor, to the most affluent VIPs, obesity can hit anyone, regardless of their location, be they big city urbanites, living in cookie cutter suburbs on living on a rural farm.