“I saw a sad article recently - NY Times, I think - about a town in Texas that said most of the residents don't believe or trust in doctors when it comes to health issues and not surprisingly, they have a huge rate of heart disease, diabetes and other lifestyle-related diseases,” said a client of mine who lives in Philadelphia, PA. Naturally when I heard this news, I couldn’t help but feel very sad for my home state that is lacking tremendously in health education efforts and policies to help Texans live healthier lives.
In an article titled, “East Texans’ Bad Health and Bad Habits Promote a ‘Stoke Belt,’” which was published in the New York Times on January 13, 2011, reporter Emily Ramshaw highlights the grim health statistics of Anderson County that have led to the county earning the nickname the Stroke Belt. To read the article click here.
Ramshaw further reports that race and poverty are significantly linked to early deaths among the residents of Anderson County and wrote “The early deaths are a result of high rates of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancers, afflictions directly linked to lifestyle choices, including poor diet and smoking.”
Additionally, a prevalent attitude among East Texans is “When the good Lord says, ‘It’s time for you to go,’ it’s time for you to go. It ain’t up to me or to nobody else.” There is little to no self responsibility taken to help prevent illness and disease. People in this area live hard and die young eating traditional southern style food such as BBQ, fried catfish, biscuits and gravy combined with modernized fast food and all-you-can-eat restaurant offerings.
Unfortunately, the health care industry in this area also does not walk the talk when it comes to helping people live healthy lives. In her article, Ramshaw reports that an area health care facility, (Read Full Article)