The media keeps telling us that the rate of obesity is skyrocketing in the United States. But the residents of one city really take the cake—and the ice cream, the donuts, the bacon bits…
WE’RE NUMBER ONE!
After the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released the results of a 2008 study on obesity and related illnesses, the Associated Press crunched the numbers and singled out “America’s unhealthiest city”: Huntington, West Virginia. The area’s 284,000 people lead the nation in obesity rates, heart disease, diabetes, and several other unhealthy conditions.
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian mountain range, Huntington has an economy that was centered around coal mining and manufacturing until the 1950s. But as those labor-intensive, calorie-burning jobs moved elsewhere, the fabric of the town changed. Joblessness and poverty have been on the rise ever since.
One thing that hasn’t changed: the local diet. Fatty, fried, unhealthy (and totally delicious) food was—and still is—popular in Huntington. The deep-fried meats famous in the Southern U.S. and the fat-rich recipes brought over by English and German immigrants still make up the majority of the diet (they use lots of gravy). Because Huntington’s economy is now comprised mostly of service-sector office jobs, those calories don’t get burned off in the mines or at the factories anymore. Instead, they turn to fat. (Ironically, Huntington’s largest employer is the healthcare industry.)
Huntington beat just about all of the CDC’s national findings::
• National adult obesity rate: 34 percent. Huntington: 46 percent.
• National rate of adults who say they “never exercise”: 25 percent. Huntington: 31 percent.
• National rate of adults who smoke cigarettes: 18 percent. Huntington: 25 percent.
• National rate of senior citizens who have no teeth: 30 percent. Huntington: 48 percent.
Noah’s ark? In 2007 a deserted ship was discovered near China. On board: 5,000 live rare animals.
Perhaps most telling of all, a quarter of older adults in the Huntington area have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, characterized by fatty buildup in the arteries. That’s two and a half times the national average. They also have higher rates of type 2 diabetes, which is caused by poor diet and inactivity. Here are two more alarming statistics not found in the CDC’s report:
• Huntington is home to 200 pizza parlors—more than the number of gyms and health clubs in the entire state of West Virginia.
• The number of McDonald’s restaurants per capita in U.S. is about one per 20,000 people; Huntington’s rate is triple that.
When residents don’t crave pizza or the Golden Arches, they can go to local favorite eateries, such as Big Loafer, Cam’s Hams, DP Dough, or Fat Patty’s. And every summer, the people come out en masse for the annual Hot Dog Festival.
Not surprisingly, all this negative press didn’t go over too well in Huntington. When asked to comment on the CDC’s findings, Mayor David Felinton (who weighs 233 pounds) said, “We’ve got more important things to worry about down at City Hall.” Others complained that the CDC study was unfairly skewed against rural communities. According to a local doctor, Harry Tweel, there’s a stubborn cultural mindset also at work: “People here have an attitude of ‘You’re not going to tell me what I can’t eat. My parents ate that and my grandparents ate that.’”
Another local doctor, Thomas Dannals, is attempting to get his friends and neighbors off the couch and outside for some actual exercise, but it’s been difficult. He announced plans to hold a marathon and triathlon on the same weekend as the hot dog festival, and has also been working to get an exercise trail built. But because of the 2008 recession, he hasn’t been able to get much funding for either project.
The recession may have had other repercussions as well, as many Huntington residents blame the city’s poor health on the faltering economy. “It needs to pick up first so people can afford to get healthy,” 67-year-old Ronnie Adkins told a reporter…as he sat on the smoking porch of Huntington’s Jolly Pirate Donut shop.
Some users of prescription sleep aids report making phone calls, having sex, and driving in their sleep.