The West Virginia House of Delegates has 100 members.
Ten of them come from right here in the Eastern Panhandle.
They are — Daryl Cowles (R), Larry Kump (R), Eric Householder (R), Larry Faircloth (R), John Overington (R), Tiffany Lawrence (D), Stephen Skinner (D), Paul Espinosa (R), Michael Folk (R) and Jason Barrett (D).
One of the most pressing issues facing our elected representatives?
West Virginia is a sick state.
Out of the 50 states, West Virginia is number one in obesity — 32.4 percent of adults are obese.
We’re number one in heart disease — 6.7 percent of the population.
We’re number one when it comes to poor physical health days — 5.3 days in the previous 30 days.
We’re number two in smoking — 28.6 percent of adults smoke, just behind Kentucky (29.0 percent.)
We’re number two in binge drinking — 10.1 percent of the adult population.
We’re number three in physical inactivity — 35.1 percent of the adult population.
We’re number three in diabetes — 12 percent of the population.
(These statistics come from a report put out by the United Health Foundation.)
Earlier this week, we asked the ten members of the Eastern Panhandle delegation what we can do to turn this around.
After all, there are all kinds of state public health initiatives that can be taken — that have in fact been taken by other states — to reverse America’s decline in public health.
To begin with, we can pass legislation that kicks the liquid candy (soda and sports drinks) companies off of public school property.
So, we wanted to know — what do our state elected officials think we can and should do?
To say the least, the response was underwhelming.
Daryl Cowles, Eric Householder, John Overington, Stephen Skinner, Paul Espinosa, and Jason Barrett did not respond.
Michael Folk called and said he would send something in writing to meet the deadline, but never did.
Larry Faircloth wrote back and said he would send something in writing to meet the deadline, but never did.
Only two out of the ten delegates responded — Larry Kump and Tiffany Lawrence.
“West Virginia invites much of these woes upon our citizens,” Kump wrote. “The Mountain State’s excessively centralized and bureaucratized government has, for many decades, encouraged an entitlement mentality and lack of personal initiative among our citizens.”
“Our best and brightest, as well as our young folks, move elsewhere, to where their efforts meet with more success, while the median age and dependency of those who are left behind continues to rise. The stifling regulation and our court system discourages business growth and new start-ups/investment (a.k.a., good jobs). All of this, in my perspective, enhances less personal accountability and hope. Less personal accountability and hope leads to despair and dependency, which is illustrated in the statistics you quote. Our health is just one of the indicators of the sad shape in which we find ourselves.”
Tiffany Lawrence said that “West Virginia needs to facilitate a culture of wellness and health.”
“We are often times reactionary, when we should be proactive in approaching physical and mental health needs for all West Virginians,” Lawrence said.
“This begins in the home and quickly carries over to K-12 classroom initiatives. We must start with funding early education for all children as it relates to making positive life choices and decisions. Young people often tell me ‘if they would have known’ the negative effects of one substance or another they would have stopped immediately.”
“Employers must also be part of this change. Many of our Eastern Panhandle companies are creating in-house programs to allow employees to make better health decisions.”
“There is no easy solution, but we certainly need to strategically plan for the next 25 years, better than our predecessors.”
On the whole, this is an abysmal performance from our eastern panhandle delegation.
Eight no shows.
One response blaming the government — nothing about the corporate predators.
And one anemic response.
When I was a kid at Hyde Park Elementary School in Niagara Falls, New York, we’d be greeted every morning in the gym with a song called — Chicken Fat.
Turns out the song was written by Meredith Willson, the composer who wrote the song and lyrics for The Music Man.
Chicken Fat was the theme song for President Kennedy’s youth fitness program — and every day during gym, we’d listen and run through a battery of exercises — push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, torso twists, running in place and marches.
Maybe our eastern panhandle delegation should take a listen.
It’s time to shape up, or ship out.
Stay tuned.