According to a U. S. government study 35% of black Americans were obese, leading ahead of other major racial or ethnic groups.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that 29% of Hispanics and 24% of whites are obese and overall 26% of U. S. adults are obese.

Obesity rates and racial differences have been seen to go hand in hand earlier but health officials were surprised at the difference in figures. The new CDC report is the first to study the gap state by state and they reported that blacks had significantly higher obesity rates in 21 states and somewhat higher rates in many others.

According to the CDC study published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 30% or more of blacks in 40 states met standards for obesity while in Alabama, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio and Oregon, 40% or more of blacks were obese.

Blacks were 51% more likely and Hispanics were 21% more likely to be obese than whites, a disparity that may be linked to cultural attitudes, income and education levels, said the study.

Experts believe lower incomes are linked to this disparity in figures as people with lower incomes often have less access to medical care, exercise facilities and more expensive, healthier food.

David Katz, the founder of Yale University's Prevention Research Center in New Haven, Connecticut said, "As public health people focused on obesity, we have to ask ourselves, do we look at the disparities in obesity as the icing on the cake, and try to get at the cake? The differences in education, income, empowerment, resources and community need to be fixed, and it's not going to happen fast."

In the past 30 years in the U. S. the prevalence of obesity, a major cause of diabetes, stroke and heart attacks has more than doubled. "Poverty is a very strong driver of obesity," said Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

Dr. Liping Pan, a CDC epidemiologist said attitudes and perception about weight also played a part, he added that heavy people who are satisfied with their size are not likely to diet or exercise "Black and Hispanics are more accepting of high weight," Pan said. The researchers collected data using phone surveys from 2006 to 2008 and found over the three-year period, 25.6% of whites, blacks and Hispanics were obese. The authors said the obesity prevalence in this study was likely underestimated because people tend to report being taller and skinner than they actually are.

Overall the study found 36% of blacks were obese, 29% of Hispanics were obese, and 24% of whites were obese. In a gender breakup the study found black women were the heaviest, with 39% counted as obese. Black men were next, at 32%, then Hispanic women, 29%, Hispanic men, 28%, white men, 25%and white women, 22%.

"The disparities here are easy to explain," Katz said. "They're associated with poverty, less education, areas where you can't find fresh fruits and vegetables, and some cultural differences." In these communities, some studies suggest people are satisfied with having a higher body mass. Changing cultural attitudes is important, if difficult, Katz said.