March 27, 2013

Sobering news comes out of Jackson this week from the MS State Department of Health and the MS Department of Employment Security.

Yep, the message came down that we here in Jeff Davis County are fat and unemployed. Perhaps we knew that tidbit of information and most assuredly did not need to hear from the suits in Jackson pointing out the obvious. However, it is eye-opening to see our situation presented in stark  black and white, and it is impossible not to notice the close correlation in the rankings of health and unemployment.

Jeff Davis County is the  68th most unhealthy county out of the 82 counties in the state of Mississippi which notably is widely considered to be the most unhealthy state in the nation.

Of course, it is certainly not news that we have a high unemployment rate at 13.6% for the month of January ranking 63rd out of 82 counties.

I remember before my mother became ill several years ago she was prone to say, “we may be poor, but at least we got our health…” All these facts and figures are not news, but it is good to be reminded that we are losing in both the arenas of jobs and health. That is, if we have a plan to fix it.