In response, leaders from a variety of fields met Tuesday morning to break down the report and look at ways to improve that ranking.

Experts ranging from representatives of the Windber Research Institute to elementary school administrators were at the meeting with one main goal: to find a way to get county residents healthy again.

Representatives from the research institute said, according to their analysis of the ranking system, suburban counties in the state are the healthiest and the rural counties are not.

Instead of attacking the ranking system, county commissioners said they've embraced the findings as a serious problem that must be corrected. County leaders said they plan to start addressing the issue with kids by having students eat healthier foods and exercising more.

"If you look at childhood obesity, it's become an epidemic not just in Cambria County but throughout the world. Kids now as (young) as 12 years old (are) having type 2 diabetes, and that used to be an old person's disease," said Tom Kurtz, chief executive officer of the Windber Research Institute.

Areas surrounding Cambria County, like Centre County, were not ranked as unhealthy in the report.

Stay with WJACTV.com and WJAC-TV News for continuing coverage.

Previous Stories: March 2, 2010: Local Group Steps Up To Improve Cambria County Residents' Health