| Poor health habits and statistics have once again put West Virginia in the spotlight, according to an Associated Press article.
The latest report profiles the Huntington metropolitan area as the "unhealthiest" in the country for 2006, suggesting that the area is not aware of the issue.
The AP reports that nearly half the adults in the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan statistical area are obese, a much higher percentage than the national average, according to 2006 data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Huntington is compared to 150 metropolitan areas.
The statistic reflects an area of about 284,000 people in Cabell and Wayne counties in West Virginia, Lawrence County in Ohio and Boyd and Greenup counties in Kentucky.
The data says Huntington metropolitan area residents don't exercise (31 percent), have heart disease (22 percent) and diabetes (13 percent).
It further reports that the Huntington area leads the nation in dental problems, with nearly half the people age 65 or older saying they have lost all of their natural teeth.
The Associated Press used 2006 data from the Center for Disease Control's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, but the CDC does not intend that information for ranking purposes, said Karen Hunter, senior press officer with the CDC in Atlanta.
Huntington officials say the data misrepresents the actual municipal area.
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