Sunday, November 16, 2008

Health = Luxury

Marshall, W.Va., 1950:
Obesity was not a worry then. Workplace injuries were.

Marshall, W.Va., 2008:
no other metro area in the United States comes close to Huntington's adult obesity rate (from CDC), an astonishing 50%

... nearly half the people age 65 and older have lost all their natural teeth
... getting heart attacks in their 30s
... highest rates in the country of heart attacks and diabetes

The psychological problem behind it all is described by one person: The economy needs to pick up "so people can afford to get healthy,"

many people think of exercise and healthy eating as luxuries.
200 pizza joints
149 health gyms

What about little lovely Big Isaac?
Some doctors, on hearing the statistics, noted the Huntington area is not in such bad shape by West Virginia standards. A recent state study found that health problems are significantly worse in the more rural coal counties to the south. But those places didn't show up in the CDC report, because they were too small.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is just amazing. Since my GI problems began in 2001, I've been very sensitive about diet and weight but for very different reasons -- I need to maintain my weight and my GI doc has told me that it'd be OK for me to pack on some extra pounds. Someday it could save my life....

I think how a person thinks about his/her body is important, too, not just the health aspect, or medical aspect. What kind of body image they have. It can have a huge influence on how they eat.