Panel eyes Oklahoma’s low life expectancy

Jan Figart, associate director of the Community Service Council in Tulsa, said Oklahoma and Colorado are the only states that don’t have a systematic health education curriculum in public schools.

Oklahoma’s life expectancy for women is 72, compared with 82 in other regions of the country, Figart said.

For men, Oklahomans’ life expectancy is 66, compared with 76 nationally.

Figart said the state might as well put up a sign that says, "Come to Oklahoma and die.”

Rep. Ann Coody, R-Lawton, chairman of the House Common Education Committee, called the statistics "absolutely horrifying.”