East Germans Tipping the Scales

Health experts have long been warning about increasing obesity rates in Germany. Now, it seems they've found another factor besides diet and exercise that contributes to the average German citizen's weight -- location. More than half of the people living in eastern Germany are overweight, according to the statistics office in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania takes the cake, with 56 percent of adults carrying excess kilos. Other eastern states such as Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg are close behind with more than 53 percent of their adult populations classed as overweight. Germans who want a better chance at remaining slim, it seems, should choose the fast pace of city life. Hamburg and Berlin are home to the highest number of slender people.