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Funeral homes should be doing well. West Virginia has the nation's
highest death rate.
The United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association
and the Partnership for Prevention studies show a consistent high rates of
cancer and heart disease related fatalities.
West Virginia's overall health ranking slipped from 41st in the nation in
2002 to 44th this year, according to the annual report.
Tom Sims, director of health promotion and chronic disease for the state
Department of Health and Human Resources said it must be the risk
factors leading to mortality that is causing the problem.
In West Virginia, about 25 percent of adults are considered obese and
about 28 percent of adults smoke, Sims said. About half of all students at
Calhoun High School indicated they smoke.
The state's death rate for 2003 is about 1,008 per 100,000 people, down
from about 1,020 in 2002, but up from 976 in 1990.
The nation's death rate is about 871 per 100,000 people.
Minnesota and New Hampshire were the states that had the best
mortality, and Mississippi was the worst.
Information was based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and other agencies.
West Virginia ranked 49th behind Kentucky for cancer deaths in 2003, a
decline from 37th in 1990. West Virginia's rate for heart disease-related
deaths improved slightly from last in the nation in 1990 to 48th this
year.
The state ranked 49th behind Mississippi for risk of heart disease -
measured by obesity, hypertension and sedentary lifestyles - and 48th for
prevalence of smoking, according to the study.
West Virginia is working to address such behavioral risk factors through
various projects.
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