From USAToday:
Duluth, Minn.-Wisc.
> Pct. reporting heart attack: 6.2% (tied for 8th highest)
> Pct. obese: 26.9% (68th highest)
> Pct. who smoke: 19.6% (78th lowest)
> Median household income: $46,110
In many respects, people in Duluth were in better health than the country as a whole. For instance, the percentage of people with both high blood pressure and high cholesterol were below the national rate. However, nearly 27% of people surveyed were considered obese, higher than the 24.8% obesity rate across the country. Like most areas on this list, Duluth’s median household income was lower than the national median. In 2011, it was about $4,400 less than the U.S. median of $50,502. In addition, Duluth had a slightly higher poverty rate of 16.6% than the U.S. poverty rate of 15.9%.
8 thoughts on “Is Duluth one of the “Cities where the most people have heart attacks”?”
I don’t know. But in Papa New Guinea, where human flesh is still a popular diet among the hundreds of interior tribes, (many of whom have never even had a Facebook account) heart disease doesn’t exist. Maybe these statistics demonstrate to the greater world that cannibalism can stop heart disease dead in its tracks?
Rates of obesity seem to be based on BMI, which is a pretty suspect measurement.
I don’t think Duluth is *nearly* 1/4 obese. (Unless they’re largely shut-ins whom I haven’t seen out and about.)
Or… that Facebook and Shartphones cause heart disease. Because when I run out of time at the end of the day from video games and blogging on PDD, with none left to go pick some greens from the garden, the first thing I do is grab a frozen pizza and put on a show about cannibals and witchdoctors who trip balls, and learn about how much healthier they are than stupid fat American me.
Keep in mind, these national surveys compare MSA statistics and Duluth’s MSA includes all of St. Louis and Douglas Counties. Duluth’s population is only about 30% of the total MSA.
Still, these statistics should be a wake-up call to communities in our region to encourage a more healthy lifestyle.
They took my weight and averaged across four Duluthians.
I think the economic correlations are worth thinking about!
I’m not sure where precisely I fit into the percentages, but in really hot weather, I make my own gravy.
The Duluth News Tribune has this piece, which could have been titled “Report’s heart-attack figures barely have any meaning at all.”
Report: Twin Ports’ heart-attack rate tied for 8th-highest
If the mayor would stop unexpectedly popping out of storm drains, we’d have fewer heart attacks.