Last month, Forbes Advisor published “​​States With The Least Healthy (And Healthiest) Populations, Ranked.” To the surprise of no one, West Virginia landed on top, with 100 out of 100 as the least healthy state.

We’ve got the highest percentage of adults who smoke, the highest percentage of obese adults, the second shortest lifespan at 73.9 years, the third highest percentage of adults who did not exercise in the past month. In Forbes Advisor’s rankings, the Mountain State is second worst in the disease risk factors and prevalence category — high cholesterol, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, high blood pressure, chronic lower respiratory disease … you name it, we rank at or near the top for all of it. Don’t forget about substance abuse and overdose deaths, for which we are 50% above the second-highest rate in Delaware.

But, again, none of this is a surprise. What may come as a surprise is WVU Health Sciences Chancellor and Executive Dr. Clay Marsh’s response to the report.

“I think there’s more to it than we’re just not disciplined enough to follow a program and lose weight,” Marsh told WV MetroNews.” “It’s really about how we see the world and how our environment is.”

Marsh talked about generational factors — and generational discontent, and the damage done to human health by inherited stressors.

“The more you are in that fight or flight threat response, the higher your blood pressure goes, the more stress on your heart, and the more you produce hormones that block pleasurable responses and also block trust responses,” Marsh said.

For example, “Obesity, for which West Virginia is number one in the country and the United States is number one in the world, may well be a symptom of people who feel constantly under threat,” Marsh told MetroNews.

It is refreshing to hear a public official define the challenge so accurately. Imagine the possibilities for change if our elected officials would listen, and work toward doing something about it. Imagine if we elected people who did not believe they would gain political points by encouraging people to fear moving away from an “it is what it is” attitude.

Instead, too many of them continue to work — strenuously — against efforts that would lift us out of that generational downward spiral. Maybe it’s time we stopped leaving it up to them. We’re West Virginians, after all. We know if something needs to be done, we do it ourselves. And if, to save ourselves, we must break this generational curse, we’ll get that done, too.