Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV
April 4, 2012
McDowell ranks as unhealthiest county in W.Va. for 3rd year

By KATE COIL
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

WELCH — For the third year in a row McDowell County has been ranked as the unhealthiest county in West Virginia.

A report released Tuesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin researchers found McDowell County ranked number 55 out of the 55 counties in West Virginia. Factors such as a premature death rate (almost double the state average) and high rates of smoking, obesity and physical inactivity among residents contributed to the poor ranking.

McDowell County Commission President Gordon Lambert said drug abuse is the biggest obstacle to health in the county.

“It’s a tremendous challenge, and we have different groups working on this,” Lambert said. “F.A.C.E.S, the West Virginia Extension Agency and other programs that are trying to address these issues. Behavior changes slowly. We know we can’t change these things overnight. A lot of it has to do with our drug problem we have, which we are trying to address by bringing a clinic here.”

Lambert said health care is one of the issues being addressed by the Reconnecting McDowell partnership.

“There are health clinics in some county schools,” Lambert said. “The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFL-CIO, Gayle Manchin and Reconnecting McDowell are not just addressing the education system, but all the parts of our county including health care, teen pregnancy, drug abuse and the whole deal.”

“That five-year program was just kicked off a few months ago, and I know that program will make a big difference to our county. Local people also need to step up and do their part as well. We need all the help we can get. We are working on this issue, and we will keep working until we get things changed.”

Tim Crofton, executive director of the Tug River Health Association, Inc., said obesity and drug abuse are two of the biggest issues the county faces.

“Their findings are pretty much consistent with other studies I have seen,” Crofton said. “The obesity problem is something we discuss regularly. As a matter of fact, we have partnered with the Reconnecting-McDowell initiative and will be meeting fairly soon to talk about our thoughts. We think obesity is a problem along with drug use. There are quite a few expulsions from school due to drug-related problem. Diabetes is another problem we are dealing with.”

Crofton said Tug River does have programs in place to deal with issues such as diabetes and obesity.

“Our thoughts to work on ways to provide education to the kids in the classrooms regarding obesity and drug use,” Crofton said.

“We have two school-based centers and our general centers in Northfork and one in Gary. On the obesity side of things, we have tried for years to figure out a way to have our kids come to our fitness center. We have a small fitness center in Wilcoe, and we are going to recommend developing a program with the school system to transport the kids to have them participate in the programs we have. The problem is always how to get the kids there and how to get them returned, as well as parents committing to pick them up. We have to work on logistics. We have the program with a nice gym. We are going to not only do the education piece, but we are going to do the treatment part as well through our fitness center. We also do screenings and treatment for diabetes for free.”

Crofton said Tug River is also working with county officials to deal with substance abuse in schools.

“On the drug abuse and substance abuse side of things, we are talking now with the school superintendent, the president of our board who is a pharmacist and a physician who specializes in addiction medicine who used to be our medical director,” he said.

“We are having a work group session and will have more on dealing with the substance abuse problem, particularly in schools. There is not a whole lot of guidance on this problem, so it is an exploratory thing. ”

Mercer County was ranked 50 out of 55 by the report while Monroe County ranked in at 33 out of 55 in West Virginia. Generally, the report found the healthiest West Virginia counties were located in the northern area of the state while the unhealthiest counties were typically located in the southern region of the state.

The study also ranked counties in Virginia and found the southern half of Virginia had the highest rates of premature death, physical inactivity, adult smokers, residents in poor physical health, unemployment, children in poverty and uninsured residents.

Buchanan and Tazewell counties ranked as two of the unhealthiest areas of the Commonwealth, though Petersburg, Va., received the lowest ranking in Virginia. Buchanan ranked 129 out of 131 while Tazewell ranked 126 out of 131. Bland County also ranked 88 out of 131 whil