At midday in Little Rock, Arkansas, the lunch rush is already in full swing, with roughly 40 cars snaking through the Chick-fil-A drive-thru.
The line wraps tightly around the restaurant and spills onto the main road, clogging traffic as impatient motorists honk and edge their way toward nearby fast-food rivals including McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Popeyes.
‘It’s always like this,’ says 21-year-old server Lyric Anderson, who has spent six months working at the Chick-fil-A, ‘particularly on Mondays when people are back at work after the weekend.’
Little Rock is best known in American history as the city where President Eisenhower deployed federal troops in 1957 to enforce the desegregation of Central High School, a pivotal episode in the civil rights era.
It is also the place where Bill Clinton climbed the ranks of state politics before setting out on the road that would eventually lead him to the White House.
But earlier this year, the hot Southern city of about 200,000 residents gained a far less flattering distinction: Little Rock was ranked America’s most obese city, overtaking McAllen, Texas, after its seven-year run at the top.
Analysts at the personal finance website WalletHub, which compiled the list, pointed to a combination of high obesity levels, significant health challenges and limited access to nutritious food as key reasons Little Rock landed in first place.
Across Pulaski County, where Little Rock is located, almost 68 percent of adults are classified as overweight or obese, as are one in four children and teenagers. About a third of adults have heart disease, while two in five live with high blood pressure.
Shown above is an individual loading her shopping cart at a Sam’s Club in Little Rock
Two locals in Little Rock, Arkansas. They are wearing t-shirts that say ‘Eat Sonic,’ which appears to be a reference to the fast food chain Sonic Burgers
In light of this, I’m here in Little Rock to get a clearer picture of where it all went so wrong.
‘Oh gosh, it’s bad – it’s real bad here,’ says mother-of-two Yalonda Martin, 40, puffing out her cheeks to show the scale of the problem.
As healthcare worker, Yalonda admits she’s struggled with her own weight, having shed 56lbs with the help of the drug Mounjaro over the past 18 months.
However, many of her fellow Little Rock residents are not following suit. ‘Everyone I know is obese,’ she says.
Braydon, 23, who works at Dillard’s at a local mall, tells me he’s lost 20lbs in the past two years through hard dieting, but the temptations are all around.
‘The other day I was in a park and I saw a guy on a bench with five burgers,’ he says. ‘I thought, maybe he was having a party or something, but then he ate them all himself.’
Aneissa Ford, 32, a primary school teacher, is also worried: ‘My students come to school with family-sized snacks that are really supposed to be for a group, just for themselves.
‘Many struggle with sports and PE. They get very fatigued.’
A woman in Little Rock, Arkansas, shown after leaving a grocery store. When I approached her, she was not willing to say whether the food was for her family
A customer leaves a grocery story in Little Rock
The local office furniture store, LaHarpe’s, now says about five percent of its orders are for chairs to support people who weigh between 400 and 500lbs. And one of the city’s eight mobility scooter stores, Freedom Mobility, now stocks a device that can support someone who is 800lbs.
When I ask about healthy meal options in town, one local points me to Chipotle. Another says I should try Panera bread.
Little Rock is impressively green, and boasts more than 6,000 acres of recreational land across 92 parks.
You’ll also find hundreds of miles of trails weaving through the city and, last year, officials opened the first part of a new 65-mile walking path connecting Little Rock to nearby Hot Springs.
But blistering temperatures – during the day it regularly hits 90F (32C) between June and September – make walking, or being outside in general, difficult.
Sidewalks and riverside paths across the city are all virtually deserted, and much of the city center has also been turned over to parking lots.
At another Chick-fil-A – there are six in the city – I speak to one man picking up a lunchtime burger and fries who tells me he is a dietitian at Baptist Health Medical Center.
He says the majority of his patients eat out at fast food restaurants for every meal – breakfast, lunch and dinner.
According to Byte Scraper, a business data company, about half of Little Rock’s 350 restaurants are fast food joints.
Shown above is the fast food street in Downtown Little Rock. Restaurants there include McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Rally’s, Taco Bell, Popeyes, Wendy’s and Sonic Drive-In
A typical day in Little Rock at lunchtime at the Chick-fil-A drive-thru
The drive-thru at Chick-fil-A is full, while the fruit and vegetable section in a nearby grocery store stands empty
By comparison, in Denver, Colorado – America’s slimmest city, with the lowest obesity rate in the continental US – less than 20 percent of restaurants sell fast food.
In fact, junk food is so popular in Little Rock that the city has spawned at least three of its own chains.
These include Slim Chickens, where a ‘5X5’ meal – five tenders, five wings, large fries, Texas toast, two dips and a large drink – packs a staggering 2,400 calories, which is a fully grown man’s entire daily allowance.
You can get it all for just $15.
At Pig’N Chik BBQ, owner Kerry Gore, 63, who has run the restaurant for three decades, has sought to cash in on Little Rock’s glutenous tendencies.
He offers ambitious customers a $34 5lb beef burger, called the Sarge Burger.
It’s made-to-order, and the nutritional information isn’t listed on the menu, but I calculate the mammoth patty, along with plate-sized bun and five American cheese slices, could weigh in at around 7,000 calories.
Gore says that when he first launched the burger, they were selling two to three every week.
An hour outside of town, big-stomached eaters can also try their luck at Bucket List Café, which sells an 8lb pancake for $12.99 that takes 30 minutes to cook, and is made in a dish the size of a trash can lid.
At Pig’N Chik BBQ, owner Kerry Gore, 63, who has run the restaurant for three decades, has sought to cash in on Little Rock’s glutenous tendencies
Luke Andrew tucking into the Sarge Burger – a $34, 5lb burger – at Pig’N Chick restaurant in Little Rock, Arkansas. The restaurant says they used to sell two or three a week
‘All these great restaurants make it hard to eat right,’ says David McKinney, 66, a father-of-two, who is retired but used to work in insurance sales and stopped to speak to us in the local mall. ‘I suppose we eat out far more than we should.’
McKinney, who confesses to be being ‘one of the obese people here in Little Rock,’ was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year.
‘My wife keeps on me to eat healthier, but I don’t think I will, I’m set in my ways,’ he says.
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In Pulaski County, about 11.5 percent of adults are suffering from diabetes, according to the CDC, which is roughly the same as the national average.
There is no good data for diabetes rates among children, but doctors warn of a rise.
One physician told a local news provider that he used to diagnose 160 children with the dangerous high blood sugar condition per year before the Covid pandemic. Now he diagnoses around 250 to 300 annually.
That is something that concerns Sandra, a middle-aged mother with six stepchildren, who I speak to outside weekend breakfast spot, the Buttered Biscuit.
Sandra recently lost 50lbs after being told she was borderline diabetic.
Reflecting on how she got into such a state, she says: ‘We’re Americans, so we always want more bang for our buck. But then, when we get more, we end up eating more too. At the same time, we don’t want to waste, because food costs so much.’
Shown above is Yalonda Martin, left, and Karen, who both said obesity was a problem in the city. They were pictured at a local Walmart
David McKinney, 66, a retired insurance salesman, said the city has a problem with obesity. He described himself as obese and said he was diagnosed with diabetes last year. He is pictured at a local shopping mall
The above is the 5X5 option at Slim Chickens. It can contain up to 2,400 calories, equivalent to the average daily recommendation for a man and 400 more calories than the recommendation for the average woman
Shown above is the most popular order at David’s Burgers, a chain in Little Rock, a single patty with fries and a drink. They give you extra fries while you wait for your meal
With most fast food meals costing less than $10, it’s easy to see how they’re an attractive option to those on a budget.
Little Rock, overall, is not an affluent area.
The average salary is $63,000 per year, which is below the US average of $69,800. In Pulaski County, 20 percent of households are estimated to experience food insecurity.
Tight budgets can cause families to forgo expensive fruits and vegetables for calorie-dense and ultra-processed options that can be bulk-bought at the grocery store.
Finding truly healthy options here isn’t easy. Locals tell me to head to Edward’s Food Giant to stock up.
Upon arrival, I find the entrance stacked high with BBQ Baby Ray’s and Ranch sauces, which contain 70 calories per tablespoon and high fructose corn syrup.
A man behind the counter seems confused when I ask about the store’s healthy options. ‘It’s not that kind of place,’ he says.
Arkansas state surgeon general Dr Kay Chandler acknowledges Little Rock’s obesity struggle, but worries the city has been unfairly singled out.
‘Obesity has been a public health concern for decades and is not unique to Arkansas or Little Rock,’ she says. ‘Every state in the US has faced difficulties in reversing the trends due to the complex factors that contribute to overweight and obesity.
‘These rankings do serve as a reminder of the challenges many communities face nationwide, however.’
The above shows a standard mobility scooter, right, next to one for an individual who is 24 inches wide. For comparison, the standard American has a shoulder width of 14 to 16 inches
The above shows a standard office chair, left, and an office chair designed to support a person who weighs 400 to 500lbs. The Daily Mail found them at LaHarpe’s, where staff said they now made up five percent of all orders
The state has launched numerous initiatives to combat stubbornly rising obesity rates.
They include a measure passed last year requiring all health insurance plans to cover weight loss surgery, and work to expand paths and bike trails in the city to encourage more people to exercise.
The Republican state has also followed the Trump administration’s lead, passing a reform to stop people using SNAP food benefits to purchase soda, candy and high-processed foods, and bringing the presidential fitness test back to schools.
However, Kathy, 67, a retiree I spoke to in Walmart, says: ‘They stopped letting people buy junk on SNAP, but what happens now is people just bulk buy the junk on state benefits and give it to their kids to keep them happy.’
Little Rock has six registered weight-loss clinics, of which three are now temporarily closed.
At a fourth, just round the corner from a Subway, only three meetings are held a week, two of which are at 9am, making it difficult for working adults to attend.
However some residents were making genuine attempts to shape up.
To escape the oppressive heat, would-be fitness enthusiasts turn to the air-conditioned comfort of shopping malls before opening hours.
At 10am, an hour before the shops opened, I find at least 15 people doing laps of the concourse in sneakers and gym gear, using the cool, empty space as an improvised indoor track.
A larger man, visibly out of breath, declines to be interviewed but thanks us as he pauses mid lap. Two older women, their faces flushed and slick with sweat, hurry past with purpose, focused on their routine.
Jenna Reid, 26, a gym manager in the city, says : ‘People come in with all kinds of ills, but usually they are looking to lose some amount of weight.’
Her gym is virtually deserted when I drop in at 2pm on a Tuesday, but she says it tends to get busier in the evening after work.
A man in Little Rock, Arkansas, pictured leaving a Chick-fil-A
Two shoppers walk towards a Little Rock indoor mall
Shown above is an individual with a shopping cart at a Sam’s Club
Weight loss drugs are clearly being taken up too, but certainly not at the same rate as in the rest of the US, which may be due to the high cost of the medications.
A number of people I speak to while out and about in Little Rock have shed large amounts of weight thanks to the drugs.
At the Baston Clinic, nurse Stephanie Lauren Lacher, 34, confirms they’re seeing a surge in interest in the drugs from patients.
‘There’s a craze on, for sure,’ she says. ‘We’ve had people losing anywhere from 20 to 100lbs on the drugs. We coach them too to try to build healthier habits.’
I’m not convinced those messages have got through to Mac Collin, 38, a baker at a donut store, who has lost 45lbs in eight months while on Ozempic. She’s still eating doughnuts ‘whenever I want’, but the shots mean she now doesn’t eat too many at a time.
Bariatric surgeon Dr Tyler Rives, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has also seen increased interest in weight loss surgeries, such as gastric bypasses: ‘Typically, patients coming to us have exhausted every avenue. They say, I tried to lose weight, but it inevitably comes back.
‘I do think the weight loss drugs will definitely help with the rates of obesity in the long term,’ he adds.
‘We are already seeing some impact nationwide, and they’ve only been around two years. I would be surprised if it missed here.’
So will Little Rock remain America’s fattest city for long? Only time will tell.
