Yeah, N.C. beaches!

North Carolina's beaches can boast clean beach waters, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The states' beaches with the cleanest beach-water samples were Delaware, New Hampshire and Virginia, with N.C. and Georgia tying for fourth. South Carolina's came in 19th among the 30 states reviewed. Louisiana came in last.

North Carolina (and Georgia) can boast just 2 percent of her beach-water samples "failing to pass muster," according to McClatchy Newspapers.

Nationwide, the total number of beach-closing days due to water pollution topped 20,000 in 2008 for the fourth straight year.

"Pollution from dirty storm-water runoff and sewage overflows continues to make its way to our beaches," said Nancy Stoner, a water analyst with the environmental group. "From contracting the flu or pink eye to jeopardizing millions of jobs and billions of dollars that rely on clean coasts, there are serious costs to inaction." ...

A third list in the report uses a five-star rating system to assess 200 popular beaches across the country. ...

In North Carolina ... seven of 10 rated beaches get four stars, and none receive fewer than two. ...

The South is phat, er fat

Here's a top 10 list that North Carolina doesn't make.

And that's a good thing.

Unfortunately, many of our Southern neighbors have wound up on the list of the most obese states in the Union.

"The South tips the scales again as the nation's fattest region, according to a new government survey," says the AP.

"More than 30 percent of adults in each of the states tipped the scales enough to ensure that the South remains the nation's fattest region.

"Colorado was the least obese, with about 19 percent fitting that category in a random telephone survey last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The 2007 findings are similar to results from the same survey the three previous years. Mississippi has had the highest obesity rate every year since 2004. But Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana have also clustered near the top of the list, often so close that the difference between their rates and Mississippi's may not be statistically significant. ..."

These are the 10 states with the highest levels of adult obesity, according to a 2007 survey by the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention.
1. Mississippi, 32.0 percent
2. Alabama, 30.3
3. Tennessee, 30.1
4. Louisiana, 29.8
5. West Virginia, 29.5
6. Arkansas, 28.7
7. South Carolina, 28.4
8. Georgia, 28.2
9. Oklahoma, 28.1
10. Texas, 28.1

The article goes on to suggest fat-heavy and fried foods (you think?) may have something to do with it, in addition to the South having a "large concentration of rural residents and black women -- two groups that tend to have higher obesity rates."

North Carolina has its share of fatty, fried foods as well, no doubt. It's interesting that Virginia and North Carolina are not on the top 10 list. (Haven't seen the whole list; we could be No. 11 for all I know.) But perhaps a slightly higher-educated population, along with a migration to urban, metro areas may play into North Carolina not winding up on this top 10 list?