WVVA TV Bluefield Beckley WV News, Weather and SportsMcDowell Co. ranks last in overall health
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A new study released this week ranks McDowell County dead last in overall health.
The report, issued by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, compared health factors such as smoking and obesity rates to the number of people who die prematurely. It also found that McDowell County's premature death rate is nearly twice the state average and less than half of the county's residents have a primary care provider.
"Almost every other patient that I see is diabetic in this area," says Dr. Paul Little with the Tug River Health Center.
According to the 2010 County Health Rankings Report, 36 percent of adult residents in McDowell County use tobacco and a third are obese. Retired coal miners may suffer from black lung or COPD. One heath factor the study may have overlooked is the prevalence of prescription drug abuse.
"There are a lot of overdoses in this community. We hear one, about one probably every other week," says Little.
There are only a handful of primary care physicians in McDowell County. Most people either visit a health center or the emergency room when they sick. Due to a stagnate economy, Doctor Little says that it is difficult to entice doctors to move to the area.
"It takes a certain amount of dedication to stay in this area and to be a physician," says Little.
Doctor Little says that childhood obesity is a major factor in contributing to poor health among adults.
"I have a couple of teenagers that are already on blood pressure medicine," says Little.
Nearly half of children in McDowell County are living in poverty.
"If we don't educate them early and try to get them into better habits with their diet and activity, then they are also going to be diabetic and they are also going to have heart disease," says Little.
In general, the study found that people living in northern West Virginia counties have better overall health and better access to preventive health care.
