Northern states' obesity, depressive behavior linked to lack of sunlight, vitamin D

Obesity and mental illness are closely linked, especially in northern tier states like South Dakota.

In fact South Dakota is slipping. Just last year,the state ranked 19th but even that ranking would put us well behind most of our neighboring states. But why does South Dakota rank so low and what's being done to improve that rank? It's a test South Dakota is failing.--Jake Iverson, KSFY.

The Mitchell Republic is hardly a bastion of progressive thought; yet, editor Seth Tupper is often a guest on Dakota Midday's political junkie segment. I wince, cringe, even clinch to constipation whenever publisher Jon Hunter of the Madison Daily Leader appears as a guest on that program.

It was with pleasant surprise that part of this interested party's manifesto popped up in the online pages of the Mitchell publication. Reporter Frannie Sprouls interviewed some catholic hospital employee for her piece:

In the Upper Midwest, adequate exposure to the vitamin D in sunshine is hard to come by. During the summer, the temperature rises and people stay inside with air conditioning. During the winter, the temperature lowers and people stay inside huddled under blankets. “It’s hard to get it into your diet, so you have to rely on the sun,” said Megan Vilhauer, a nutritionist at Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell. “You want to do it just right, so you don’t get sunburned or get skin cancer.”

No wonder obesity, depression, and xenophobia plague the chemical toilet as the state wrestles with whether to ruin gasoline engines with local ethanol.

Intersection here: