W.Va. City Tagged Nation's Unhealthiest

Nearly Half Of Huntington's Adults Are Obese In Poverty-Plagued Town

(AP)  As a portly woman plodded ahead of him on the sidewalk, the obese mayor of America's fattest and unhealthiest city explained why health is not a big local issue.

"It doesn't come up," said David Felinton, 5-foot-9 and 233 pounds, as he walked toward City Hall one recent morning. "We've got a lot of economic challenges here in Huntington. That's usually the focus."

Huntington's economy has withered, its poverty rate is worse than the national average, and vagrants haunt a downtown riverfront park. But this city's financial woes are not nearly as bad as its health.

Nearly half the adults in metropolitan Huntington are obese - an astounding percentage, far bigger than the national average in a country with a well-known weight problem.

Huntington leads in a half-dozen other illness measures, too, including heart disease and diabetes. It's even tops in the percentage of elderly people who have lost all their teeth (half of them have).

It's a sad situation, and a potential harbinger of what will happen to other U.S. communities, said Ken Thorpe, an Emory University health policy professor who is working with West Virginia officials on health reform legislation.

"They may be at the very top, but obesity and diabetes trends are very similar" in many other communities, particularly in the South, Thorpe said.

Huntington's health problems, cited in a U.S. health report, are a terrible distinction for the city, but the locals barely talk about it. Many don't even know how poorly the city ranks.

What's the healthiest city in America? It appears to be Burlington, Vt. The state's largest city is tops among U.S. metropolitan areas by having the largest proportion of people - 92 percent - who say they are in good or great health.

As for Huntington, culture and history are at least part of the problem, health officials say.

Diet Rich With Tradition, And Fat

This city on the Ohio River is surrounded by Appalachia's thinly populated hills. It has long been a blue-collar, white-skinned community - overwhelmingly people of English, Irish and German ancestry.

For decades, Huntington thrived with the coal mines to its south, as barges, trucks and trains loaded with the black fuel continually chugged into and past the city. There were plenty of manufacturing jobs in the chemical industry and in glassworks, steel and locomotive parts. Nearly 90,000 people lived in the city in 1950.

The traditional diet was heavy with fried foods, salt, gravy, sauces, and fattier meats - dense with calories burnt off through manual labor. Obesity was not a worry then. Workplace injuries were.

But as the coal industry modernized and the economy changed, manufacturing jobs left. The city's population is now fewer than 50,000, and chronic diseases - many of them connected to obesity - seem much more common.

Shari Wiley is a nurse at St. Mary's Regional Heart Institute in Huntington. She runs a program that identifies heavy school children and tries to teach them better eating and exercise habits. The effort began because of an alarming trend.

"A lot of the patients we were seeing were getting heart attacks in their 30s. They were requiring open heart surgery in their 30s. And we were concerned because it used to be you wouldn't see heart patients come in until they were in their 50s," Wiley said.

Huntington is essentially tied with a few other metropolitan areas for proportion of people who don't exercise (31 percent), have heart disease (22 percent) and diabetes (13 percent). The smoking rate is pretty high, too, although not the worst.

However, the Huntington area is a clear-cut leader in dental problems, with nearly half the people age 65 and older saying they have lost all their natural teeth. And no other city comes close to Huntington's adult obesity rate, according to the report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on data from 2006.

Perhaps fittingly, hospitals are now Huntington's largest employers. Another is Marshall University, home of the "Thundering Herd" football team depicted in the 2006 film "We Are Marshall" which dominates local sports conversations.

[kansas1946]

Poor people without access to proper health care because they can not afford it and they voted for McCain. Amazing.

[displeased]

1. People have health condition caused by thyroids ever heard of it? Hey did some ignorant P.H.D write this article proving lack of intelligence is on planet earth?
Posted by ms1-1-1

Thyroid disease affects 4% of the US population. Nearly 50% of this town''s population is overweight. Can''t blame thyroid disease entirely. Eating too much craap and lack of movement are their problems. And poor nutrition is one of the causes of thyroid disease.

[lloydbest1]

"You simply do not know what you are talking about!

While it is true that many people choose to overeat, it is absolutely NOT true that most obese people choose to be obese. As a matter of fact, the calorie stats you cite prove it. SINCE IT TAKES SUCH A TINY AMOUNT OF "OVER EATING" TO ADD UP TO SERIOUS WEIGHT GAIN over time, the key factor must be how your body uses those calories..." Posted by IDNNSG at 08:35 PM : Nov 17, 2008

The above was a response (rebuttal?) to my previous post on 05:24 PM : Nov 17, 2008. The caps are my emphasis and the whole point I was trying to make. If it takes that little to turn an unfilled out teenager into the Michelin Tire Man, it then follows that it takes an equally small calorie deficit to reverse the weight gain.
So. This is what it takes to use 15 additional calories:
Walking about 200 yards.
Using a push-it-yourself type lawn mower instead of a powered one for 200 square feet of lawn.
Climbing three flights of stairs as opposed to using the elevator.
Hanging two large loads of laundry on the line rather than simply throwing them in the dryer.
Using a stick shift as opposed to an automatic for every day of normal commuting.
If you''re overweight and your weight is stable, doing even one of the above will drop your weight (a little, at least) - without even having to change your diet!

[displeased]

the key factor must be how your body uses those calories, not the precise number of calories that are consumed. Most thin people don''''t pay ANY attention to how many calories they consume, but they don''''t gain weight! Think about it.
Posted by IDNNSG

Are you referring to thin people who exercise or genetically thin people? You''re right though, as a normal weight person who exercises and plays sports, I don''t count calories, but I do watch what I eat...by avoiding processed, fried, and fast food restaurants. It does take a little self discipline to avoid the "good" stuff on a regular basis.

[runningralph]

Gluttons eat liberally no matter how they vote. Liberalism causes a system to erode from the inside.

[earache4]

Liberalism causes the collapse of a system. Obesity is a self inflicted disesase. It does not exist most parts of the world.

Posted by runningralph

Just one small hole in your theory there sparky, West Virginia is a red state....(unless they are overeating in protest of the last elections...)

[barbaram99]

I pity the children whose parents do force them to eat more then they should..I see it as child abouse. There are persons are on meds that cause them to gain,pERSONS WITH DIABETES, They what to lose the wt and try they just can''t..True some pig out. I eat one meal a day. Have for years. I knoe the rights things to eat. Have to mic my food. The poor we buy what we can afford.. The less costly. IS ALL i CAN AFFORD...bLEME IT ON THE HIGH COST OF OIL AND GREED.

[idnnsg]

"Seriously, though, weight control is a matter of choice ... and most who are obese choose to be." -- LloydBest1

You simply do not know what you are talking about!

While it is true that many people choose to overeat, it is absolutely NOT true that most obese people choose to be obese. As a matter of fact, the calorie stats you cite prove it. Since it takes such a tiny amount of "over eating" to add up to serious weight gain over time, the key factor must be how your body uses those calories, not the precise number of calories that are consumed. Most thin people don''t pay ANY attention to how many calories they consume, but they don''t gain weight! Think about it.

[irmcvet97]

Liberalism causes the collapse of a system. Obesity is a self inflicted disesase. It does not exist most parts of the world.

Posted by runningralph


Your post is the most ignorant I have ever read.



Posted by troutfisher4 at 12:09 PM : Nov 17, 2008

I gotta agree with you here, that was the dumbest post I have EVER read!

[troutfisher4]

News Flash!

10 health-conscious, fit people out of 10 health-conscious, fit people people die anyway!

Let the people in Huntington eat what they want to eat and stay out of their lives.

Posted by MityWhity


One of the lard azzes has self identified :)

[troutfisher4]

News Flash!

10 health-conscious, fit people out of 10 health-conscious, fit people people die anyway!

Let the people in Huntington eat what they want to eat and stay out of their lives.

Posted by MityWhity


One of the lard azzes has self identified :)

[lloydbest1]

There is a bright side to this story:

If the economy tanks as badly as I think it will, all those Huntington lard-b*tts will be among the last ones standing after the inevitable famine.

Seriously, though, weight control is a matter of choice (you''ll notice I did not say matter of "will power") and most who are obese choose to be. I won''t outline what can be done to mitigate the problem; nolle61 did a good enough job of that.
When I say "choice" as above, I mean that controlling your weight means controlling your energy balance. What nolle61 did not mention and I will is how breathtakingly delicate that balance is....
A 15 calorie a day excess over a period of thirty years translates to roughly 45 or a bit more extra pounds. That''s enough to move you from normal weight limits to the thresh hold of obesity and over. This is what represents 15 calories:
4 peanut M&M''s
3 medium sized olives.
2 of those peeled "baby carrots"
1 Triscuit and about a third of another
One ounce of your favorite beer
3/4 teaspoon of cooking oil
One McDonald''s french fry...

And walking about 200 yards.

[displeased]

Let the people in Huntington eat what they want to eat and stay out of their lives.
Posted by MityWhity

I wouldn''t call it imposing. I would consider it education. That way the children know there are choices they can make to live a better quality, and longer life. They still have the choice to be fat, but at least they will be aware of other options.

[mitywhity]

News Flash!

10 health-conscious, fit people out of 10 health-conscious, fit people people die anyway!

Let the people in Huntington eat what they want to eat and stay out of their lives.

[volleymom3]

I live in Ashland, KY which is about a 15 minute drive from Huntington. The job market here is very sad right now. Several companies are being closed and thousands have lost or will soon loose their jobs. This area has been known to be good for business in the past because of substandard pay for the same job that others make good pay for somewhere else. This area has been economically depressed for a very very long time. I agree with Mayor Fellington, weight is not the biggest concern. But, Mayor Fellington will be replaced soon.

[mike3092001]

I live in Huntington, WV. I am not obese, have all my teeth and a college education.

But you don''t need a college education to see what''s wrong here.

Walk into Wal-Mart to see people who need those motorized carts to get around because they''re TOO FAT to walk. Watch them in line at buffet style restaurants filling up 5-6 plates in one trip. And you should see all the three to five year olds who weigh as much as a 16 year old in any other part of the country.

It''s disgusting. Read the obituaries in our local paper sometime. Look at all the people here who die in their 50''s anc 60''s after years of ill-health all because they couldn''t put down the ice cream and big-macs.

Mountaineers are always free --

[displeased]

We should not make fun of the people of Huntington. We should think of what we can do to educate them on healthy eating a proper exercise. Here''''s an example:
Posted by nolle61

That''s a great idea but when you take a group of people who have conditioned themselves all their lives to the point they consider Long John Silvers fine dining, it will be difficult changing their habits and behavior. It''s probably too late for the adults, but you might have a chance with the children.

[evian_ycnan]

Posted by nolle61 at 02:54 PM : Nov 17, 2008

Life is a bowl of cherries.

[dagrandma]

skeetchamp: Where are they supposed to go to work? The days of migrating to Detroit to work in the auto industry are over. And right now the days of migrating anywhere in the U.S. to to to work is over. It''s very nice that you and I and others are employed but if the day ever comes that you aren''t just remember one thing: Dumplings are a hell of a lot cheaper than broccoli. Oh, by the way, Senator Obama received 43% of the vote in West Virginia.

[skeetchamp]

If I understand this, those people are not working, but they''re fat as stuffed hogs. So I''m working my fanny off every day to provide for them. They should put down their food stamps and get their women off their backs and go to work, like the rest of us. These are the same people who managed to waddle to the polls to vote against Obama due to his race, then they stopped by Walmart with their welfare money and bought more Chinese goods.