WV Ranks 6 in obesity (Man: house, contractors, calculation)

[Katie1]

I dint see FL either...maybe with all the fat people visiting from the other states they could not figure out how to rate it.....

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by ArcticPhoenix

It's part of the Southern culture. Most of the food is fattening, and exercise isn't really encouraged. Think about a typical "southern" breakfast: Eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits & gravy (or apple butter).

Bacon is fattening, eggs are fattening, and gravy is fattening. No vegetables in that breakfast right there, and that was traditional Sunday morning breakfast at my Dad's house.

Exercise and a healthy diet aren't encouraged in WV, at least not in the part where I'm from, and it's not uncommon to see people be extremely overweight, again, where I'm from.

If you go to the grocery store and look at what people are buying, it's things like chips and cookies and hamburger helper, and all these other processed foods. When you look back at history, the USA didn't have a bad obesity problem until after the advent of processed foods.

Fair observation or no?

We have addressed the Southern thing before though. While to some WV may be "southern" to others its not. It varies a lot from region to region. Especially when you factor in other parts of the state such as the northern panhandle, eastern panhandle, north central WV, and the Ohio River valley compared to the southern WV coal fields. While some in each region may identify with being southern it is greatly diminished as you get further north. I personally feel more northern being from Elkins, and if not northern, then Mid-Atlantic or some other classification. But not southern. I'm going to agree with the being a lower income state, and a lack of restriction for fast food companies.

Some of my in-laws live in Pittsburgh in an area called Mt. Lebanon, PA and within their little city limits, fast food places are banned!! I was so impressed with that idea, I thought it was an excellent idea. Markets over fast food any day!!!

[NOVAmtneer82]

I agree with GHO, these people just don't have much of a choice. It seems like most small West Virginia communities are devoid of pretty much everything except Mc Donalds, Wendys, Burger King, etc...and as much as they want to push healthy menu choices, I don't exactly think of a salad when I go to any of those.

[vec101]

OK McD's is offering salads and things are starting to improve but... the chain restaurants aren't much better than the fast food joints. I get so aggravated.
For instance, I often look up menus on the internet before I go to eat somewhere. (The older I get the pickier I get and more into veggies & fish.) I've seen menus with yummy veggie-type sandwiches but then discover they serve them at their restaurants in places like California but not in WV - our menu had more fattening food on them.

So, do they assume we are fatter so they provide fatter food for us or are we fatter because we are not offered the healthier menus?

I hesitate to say anything because I don't want to offend anyone if they are overweight. Some people have medical conditions, depression or a defeated spirit can also be a factor, but I think most of the obesity is due to the acceptance of it in the community. (Some laziness and poor parenting examples are also thrown in there.) Face it, being overweigh is pretty much accepted in most of WV. If you are living in a land of trim or somewhat trim bodies, you don't want to be the big person in the community.

Why as a society do we blame the fast food joints? I've never seen McDonald's employees blocking a road with a shotgun in their hands forcing people to pull into McD's. Inside the restaurant, I've never seen them on top of people forcing greasy food down their throat.

I've never seen grocers following people around a store yanking healthy food out of a person's cart and tossing in processed, fatty, or junk food.

Let's call it like it is - we are the ones making the decisions about what we put into our bodies.

Trust me - I would love to eat all kinds of greasy, gooey, yummy foods but I control myself. OK, I am probably neurotic on the other end of the spectrum - I get on my scales constantly and when I see the weight creeping up a few pounds I cut out the bad foods til I get back down. Then I try to keep it in moderation.

I will hop off my soap box now. Truly hope I have not insulted anyone.
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[NOVAmtneer82]

You haven't insulted me, I agree with what you said.

Being overweight isn't just accepted in WV, it's a fact of life. I know not everyone in the state is a porker but when I go home to visit I notice two things right away: 1. the mountains and 2. the sight of people who are literally larger than mountains...and I don't mean in a tall way.

I also wasn't blaming McDonalds, I'm all about making your own decisions and living with it. I was just saying when that is your only option and you CHOOSE to eat their food (or from other fast food joints) five times a week, don't exercise and guzzle down case after case of beer while on disability, you aren't exactly going to be thin...

[Bobilee]

GHO, I have to disagree with you a little on this. The breakfast that ArcticPhoenix describes is the food I grew up with. I still make it, it's my favorite breakfast. I grew up in the Huntington area, some years ago. West Virginia has its own southern identity. While you may feel northern, if you went north people would probably ask what part of the south you are from. History, West Virginia history, is my favorite subject. The largest cavalry unit under Jeb Stuart's command at Gettysburg was Jenkins Brigade, composed almost entirely of men from Cabell & Wayne counties. Ironically, both counties had voted against secession, but in true West Virginia contrariness, changed their minds. I agree that the further north you get it feels less southern, but perhaps rather than SE PA influencing WV, it is the other way around.

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by Bobilee

GHO, I have to disagree with you a little on this. The breakfast that ArcticPhoenix describes is the food I grew up with. I still make it, it's my favorite breakfast. I grew up in the Huntington area, some years ago. West Virginia has its own southern identity. While you may feel northern, if you went north people would probably ask what part of the south you are from. History, West Virginia history, is my favorite subject. The largest cavalry unit under Jeb Stuart's command at Gettysburg was Jenkins Brigade, composed almost entirely of men from Cabell & Wayne counties. Ironically, both counties had voted against secession, but in true West Virginia contrariness, changed their minds. I agree that the further north you get it feels less southern, but perhaps rather than SE PA influencing WV, it is the other way around.

and when I've asked transfer students from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, etc they tell me bluntly that West Virginia is not southern. Country... definitely, is a lot of the south in the country, yes. But being country and being southern are completely different

I can see Charleston, Huntington, Beckley and everything below those cities having some "southern" influence" But the state of WV is much, much larger than that.

I guess it all just matters who you ask

I base my opinions on geography, (not political geography, I realize that "most" of the state is below the Mason Dixon line) But I base it on similarities between the south and north. I see more resemblance to the north or Midwest with manufacturing, succession (while some counties may have voted for or against succession, that vote was over 145 years ago and regions, views, opinions change as people immigrate and emigrate in and out of the state), religious affiliations, and language dialect. (Again country vs. southern dialects) Also the south is a region of agriculture growth, cotton, tobacco, corn, soy bean, fruits, etc Aside from some apple orchards in the Romney area of the state the state pretty much is not a large scale agriculture state.

[Bobilee]

"and when I've asked transfer students from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, etc they tell me bluntly that West Virginia is not southern."

Well, ask them why? Chances are, they don't know! It's just something they've been told. The fact that the Civil War was 145 years ago is not important. If you want to know why mountain tops are being blow off in southern West Virginia, why West Virginia is the way it is with all the problems it is dealing with today, you have to go back to the Civil War. History is not just an old episode of a television series, it walks beside us every day.

[David Kennedy]

Prior to the Civil War, the State of Virginia had spent millions in developing the infrastructure of Westen Virginia. The B & O Railroad was completed to Wheeling, a new Turnpike was built with the roadbond money of 1848 from Richmond to Wheeling (Rt 250) and money had built new schools for the western counties.

The protests of the western farmers had been recognized and acted upon...a plan was formulated to gather in revenue from these investments..IT NEVER HAPPENED! The war ruined the inclusion of these western counties and the entire area was taken away...

To draw a comparitive...It would be like taking the lower half of California and giving it back to a group of Mexican businessmen...that's exactly what happened...and those businessmen didn't invest a penny into the state...
other than the subsistance wages granted to the laborers, nothing really has been invested into the state...

the exception being some fleeting industries needed during WW-2 for defense and eventually I-79 in the 1970's... now Corridor H.

[Retired Navy]

We can all thank my ex-wife for West Virginia being #6 in the nation for obesity. We were #5 until she moved back to Illinois!!! (That's just a joke folks...she's actually sorta skinny)