Huntington, West Virginia is home to Marshall University. If it sounds familiar, it is probably because of “We Are Marshall” starring Matthew McConaughey. If you missed it, in 1970 a plane holding 75 Marshall football players, coaches, staff, and supporters crashed just short of the runway killing everyone. It was very tragic.
The city has just under 50,000 residents and has the first permanent settlement in West Virginia; Holderby’s Landing, founded in 1775, in what was then the Colony of Virginia. Huntington is also among the unhealthiest cities in the U.S. nearly one quarter of the city’s population over the age of 18 reported themselves as being of poor to fair health.
Nearly 50 percent of those over 65 had all their natural teeth removed. There are many reasons for the unhealthy lifestyles. A small example of their eating priorities reveals that Huntington has more pizza places than the entire state has fitness clubs. Something should probably be done about that.