Dina - Comparing cities and states are like comparing strawberries and bananas. BTW, I believe the Aol News on State Statistics was per capita. (Do you know what that means?) Wow...why are you so defensive of Calif? There is a large Hispanic population out there that is obese as a result of eating Western Food...many Diabetics.

Anyway, I think that there are many factors that go into taxpayers paying for the "unhealthy"....Enemy #1 (IMO)...smoking and second hand smoke! (Which California has "thankfully" gotten rid of in public places.

You really want to "tangle" on this issue, don't you? Every wondered why? Sometimes it is quite enlightening to discover the reason behind the prejudice remember, I am from California....spent most of my life there...and love it with all it's flaws and wonders.