City Men’s Health Rated Worst in U.S.

By Morgan Kelly, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va., The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

Dec. 15–Charleston men, your days are numbered. West Virginia’s capital city leads the nation as the unhealthiest city for men, according to an article in the magazine, Men’s Health, set to hit newsstands Tuesday.

In its fifth-annual survey, Men’s Health graded 100 cities by health, including obesity, smoking and cancer rates; quality of life, including unemployment, crime and household income; and fitness, or how much men work out. Each city also received a final grade.

San Francisco ruled the list with an overall A+. Charleston languished in the 100 spot with an F in all three categories and as its final grade. Charleston was also branded as the least muscular city, with San Jose, Calif., taking the top slot in that category.

“We’re not doing this to accentuate the negative aspects, but [to] say, ‘Hey, here are some areas where you can improve,’ ” said Mike Zimmerman, a senior editor of Men’s Health. “The entire feature is full of tips and advice on how to improve your life, and that really is what this was about.”

But local health officials say the ranking — while unexpected — certainly is not a surprise.

“Knowing that we rank up there — or have in the past — in tobacco use and obesity, I could accept the statement that it is one of the worst places, perhaps, in the country,” said Dr. Kerry Gateley, executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston health department. Gateley had not read the article as of Wednesday.

“To say that it is absolutely the worst, I would need more information. I would have to see the numbers. It’s one thing to say we have a high rate of heart disease. It is another to say it is the worst in the country.”

It is no secret that West Virginians like to smoke.

The percentage of adults in Kanawha County who reported smoking dropped from 31 percent in 2002 to 21 percent in 2003, according to a telephone survey conducted by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

The percentage of West Virginia adults who smoke decreased by 1 percent, from 28 to 27. But that’s compared to the national average of 22 percent. In terms of health care and lost productivity, smoking cost West Virginia between $1.858 billion and $2.076 billion in 2004. It kills 3,842 West Virginians each year, the state’s Bureau of Public Health estimates.

Mountaineers also like to eat. In fact, the state asked investigators from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to look into the state’s weight problem. About 64 percent of the state’s adults are overweight or obese, according to the CDC.

Obesity and smoking rates like these inevitably lead to the higher rates of cancer and heart disease that Men’s Health found, Gateley said.

The health category was given the most consideration, Zimmerman said. West Virginia actually ranked higher than other cities in quality-of-life measures such as traffic, crime and crowded neighborhoods. But other areas such as the number of people with a college education, the average household income and air quality ultimately dropped it to the bottom, he said.

As far as fitness, a Men’s Health reporter came to Charleston for two days in October and did not find a whole lot. The article quoted an employee of the Nautilus Fitness Center near Charleston Area Medical Center as saying that local residents have little motivation to exercise.

West Virginia’s high population of senior citizens may be another reason the state’s health appears so dismal, said Linda St. Clair, a registered dietitian at the state Office of Child Nutrition. As men age, their risk for cancer — particularly prostate — and heart disease increase, she said.

“I think West Virginia ends up worse because we have an older population than some other cities,” she said. “We do not have a lot of young people here running on [Kanawha] Boulevard every day.”

But health educators in West Virginia also know that men in this state are not the most enthusiastic audience when it comes to wellness and exercise, she said.

“I think people are tired of being told what to eat,” St. Clair said. “[But] we have that traditional West Virginia diet that tended to be more suited for people doing physical labor. If we have men who aren’t doing physical labor but still eating like they are, that will cause them to gain weight.

“I do not think [the Men's Health article] is unreasonable,” she said. “We have seen the data and we know we do not look good.”

To contact staff writer Morgan Kelly, use e-mail or call 348-1254.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

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