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While West Virginia is making a little progress in reducing deaths from heart disease, it has a long ways to go.
The American Heart Association has found that West Virginia has the fifth-highest fatality rate from cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease in America.
The states with the highest percentage of obese adults are Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana and Tennessee.
Three hundred and seventy-three people per 100,000 died from heart disease in West Virginia in 2004, slightly down from previous years.
Researchers say West Virginia's problems stem largely from lifestyle issues like smoking, poor eating habits and lack of exercise.
National statistics tend to show that drinking alcohol abusively is not a major problem in West Virginia, a statistic disputed by many others associated with the problem.
Nationally, the report found that heart disease is still the nation's leading killer, accounting for more than a third of all deaths. | 
