HUNTINGTON -- Experts say they aren't surprised to find Huntington and Charleston on the list of worst cities for women's heart health, but they also say progress has been made over the past few years.
The American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" Heart Friendly Cities report ranked Huntington and Charleston as the seventh and eighth unhealthiest cities for women, respectively.
The study broke down cities by size, with Huntington and Charleston falling into the category of cities with populations of 560,000 or less.
While work needs to be done to improve women's heart health in the state, the study did indicate that both cities perform well concerning the number of physicians and cardiologists per capita, according to Kevin Pauley. communications director for the West Virginia American Heart Association.
He said the numbers may be negative, but they are actually better than in the past few years.
"We actually are seeing improvements," Pauley said.
He said the report is also not surprising, considering West Virginia led the nation for years in heart disease, diabetes, smoking, obesity and sedentary lifestyle. He said more women than men also die from stroke each year in West Virginia.
Dr. Harry Tweel, director of the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, also said the report's findings make sense.
"The studies we have done in the state, including both Cabell and Kanawha County, do show we have a significant problem with heart health," Tweel said. "Much of this relates to unhealthy lifestyle."
Tweel said healthy living and increased emphasis on prevention can significantly turn around the trend.
"Although we have excellent medical care for those with heart disease, we do not have a strong emphasis on prevention of heart disease. What we would need to do to really change these statistics is to improve the normal environmental things that make it worse, such as improper diet, lack of exercise, being overweight, control of hypertension," he said.
He said funding for prevention should be increased.
Pauley said the report is a chance to further address the issues and make simple changes.
"This is a great wake-up call," he said.
He said the association encourages women to talk with their doctors, walk daily, and go to the Web site www.goredforwomen.org for free heart health checkups and healthy recipes.
"Those simple little things will make all the difference in the world," he said.
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