It’s an alarming statistic: Essentially, two-thirds of New Jersey’s residents (from kids to seniors) are classified as overweight/obese, according to World Life Expectancy.com. Doubly alarming, given that carrying excess poundage has been linked to major causes of death, including coronary heart disease, the No. 2 killer in the Garden State (10,611 deaths), bumped out of first place by COVID-19. Stroke is No. 3 (3,713); diabetes, No. 8 (2,436) and hypertension, No. 9 (2,423). (Mortality figures according to 2020 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)

If there’s any good news to this grim picture, it’s that 80% of Garden State residents participate in moderate or vigorous exercise.

How does New Jersey compare with neighboring states? New York doesn’t do much better when it comes to sticking with a diet: 64% of residents are overweight. Connecticut also comes in at 64%. The rate in Pennsylvania is 67%.

What state has the biggest problem with weight control? That would be Mississippi, at 73%. Hawaii is the leanest, at 58%.