In the wake of the groundbreaking announcement regarding McDonald's secret menu, we're sure you're all itching to get to the nearest Mickey D's, as are we. Luckily for all of us, the business journal 24/7 Wall Street pinpointed where McDonald's are most prevalent around the U.S., but as they looked at the states with the most locations, they noticed many of the states where the chain is prevalent are also, perhaps not surprisingly, states with the high rates of obesity and deaths due to heart disease.

The Southern and Midwestern states are in the lead for having the highest volumes of McDonald's, in terms of the number of locations per every 100,000 people. Ohio tops the list, with 7 McDonald's locations, for every 100,000 of its residents. 

The top five get golden stars for having the most McDonald's in their state, compared to their populations, but with an average obesity rate of 30.66% among the highest ranked states, this is no cause for a Happy Meal-sponsored celebration. 

The top five states are:

1. Ohio

7.1 locations per 100,000 people

30.4% obesity rate

2. Michigan

6.38 locations per 100,000 people

31.5% obesity rate

3. Kansas

6.36 locations per 100,000 people

30.0% obesity rate

4. Maryland

6.33 locations per 100,000 people

28.3% obesity rate

5. Louisiana 

6.3 locations per 100,000 people

33.1% obesity rate

As the 8th ranked state in the study, Tennessee has around 6.5 million people, bringing their total of McDonald's locations to 6.05/100,000 Tennesseans. Researchers found a correlation between states's low incomes and their lack of health, but with an average income of $44,297 per household in Tennessee (coming in at one of the poorest levels of yearly income in the U.S.), inexpensive fast food seems like the only option for some Southern and Midwestern families. In an effort to be frugal, Americans living in low income areas rely on cheap fast food to feed their families, at the cost of potentially negative health effects. As the 9th ranked state in the study, 27.3% of Indiana's residents admitted to eating less than one serving of vegetables on a daily basis, and as the 10th state in the study, 46% of Kentucky's residents admitted to eating less than one serving of fruit every day. 

Surprisingly, Mississippi and West Virginia (the states with the highest obesity rates) and Illinois (the home of the original Golden Arches) do not make appearances on the list. Although, those two are MIA from the list, Maryland is actually the only state that can boast an obesity rate lower than 30%. 

Did your state make the list?  

H/T 24/7 Wall Street