For many long years, some say eight, I say twenty-eight, this country has been divided into so-called red states and so-called blue states. The former are, of course Republican, conservative, "Bible Belt", what have you. This is what Sarah Palin would consider "real America." The latter are home to effete latte drinking liberals who drive volvos instead of pick-up trucks and eat weird stuff like arugula.
So it was funny--well not in the humorous sense, but the peculiar sense to see the reporting on the unhealthiest city in the US.
Nearly half the adults in Huntington's five-county metropolitan area 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).
Heart disease is a killer, and controlling it is expensive. The same with the other diseases mentioned. Not surprisingly, oral disease is also widespread. The mouth is the portal to the rest of the body, and disease there is a harbinger of things to come.
The report goes on to highlight the abject poverty of the area as well.
But wait--we have the healthiest city listed, too.
It is Burlington, the largest city in the state sometimes referred to as the "People's Republic of Vermont".
It's also among the best in exercise and among the lowest in obesity, diabetes and other measures of ill health, according to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Genetics play a role? Not so much:
This New England city of 40,000, on the shores of Lake Champlain, is in some ways similar to the unhealthiest city — Huntington, W.Va. Both are out-of-the-way college towns with populations that are overwhelmingly white people of English, German or Irish ancestry.
Obesity and overall health are important indicators of social well-being. On all fronts, blue states are better than red states, with less divorce, teen pregnancy, illiteracy.
Red states cost the federal government more than blue states in terms of programs. I believe the so-called conservative mentality leads to the social decay that causes ill health on so many levels.
Just another reason to be proud of being a liberal Democrat, and hopefully the better health of Vermont can be exported along with their cheese and maple syrup.