A new report released Thursday shows the 25 million people living in Appalachia — which includes residents of 32 Ohio counties — have fallen further behind the rest of the nation for premature deaths and other key health factors.
The 13-state region, stretching from Mississippi through eastern and southern Ohio to New York, has higher rates than the rest of the nation in seven of the 10 leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke. But perhaps more ominously, the gap between the health of those living in the long-impoverished region and those in the rest of the U.S. is growing even though overall health statistics are improving for both.
