DEAR EDITOR:

Regarding the editorial, “Ohio and WV face serious health issues.” You don’t need extensive studies to know one thing — Ohioans are fat. After living elsewhere for many years we moved back to Youngstown and immediately noticed that Ohio had serious health problems.

Besides the weight issues many people here still smoke. It is easy to blame it on bad weather but there is more to it than that. There may be contributing factors like all the abandoned natural gas wells that dot the landscape or contaminated drinking water.

Also, food is tasty and cheap! Supermarkets run specials like “Potato Chips $1.99 a bag” (but you must buy 5 bags to get the sale price)! Getting together always involves a large meal and not a walk in the park.

I applaud Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel for making an effort to address this issue. I wish he were running for governor.

STEVE SOLAK

Youngstown