Top 25 Fittest Cities:
- 1. Honolulu. Last year: 1
- 2. San Francisco. Last year: 3
- 3. Virginia Beach, Va. Last year: 8
- 4. Denver. Last year: 7
- 5. Colorado Springs, Colo. Last year: 4
- 6. Seattle. Last year: 2
- 7. Boston. Last year: 12
- 8. Portland, Ore. Last year: 6
- 9. Tucson, Ariz. Last year: 9
- 10. Sacramento, Calif. Last year: 10
- 11. Omaha, Neb. Last year: 14
- 12. Albuquerque, N.M. Last year: 17
- 13. Jacksonville, Fla. Last year: 18
- 14. San Diego. Last year: 5
- 15. Fresno, Calif. Last year: 24
- 16. Wichita, Kan. Last year: 16
- 17. Oakland, Calif. Last year: 15
- 18. Minneapolis. Last year: 11
- 19. Austin, Texas. Last year: 13
- 20. San Jose, Calif. Last year: 19
- 21. Milwaukee. Last year: 21 on "Fat" list
- 22. Charlotte, N.C. Last year: 10 on "Fat" list
- 23. Long Beach, Calif. Last year: 20
- 24. Nashville. Last year: 23
- 25. Los Angeles. Last year: 22
What's Fat, What's Fit
The magazine's editors looked only at the 50 largest U.S. cities according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. Then they were rated on 14 categories:
- Gyms/Sporting Goods. The theory here: If you don't have the gear, you'll get a big rear. Cities were rated on the total number of gyms, health clubs, fitness studios, and sporting-goods retailers per 100,000 residents.
- Nutrition. Cities were rated on the percentage of residents eating the recommended five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables -- and on the number of health-food stores per 100,000 people.
- Junk Food. Cities lost points for the number of fast-food outlets, pizza joints, ice-cream shops, and doughnut stores per 100,000 people.
- Exercise/Sports. Cities were ranked according to total participation in 103 sports and fitness activities.
- Overweight/Sedentary. Yep, the CDC actually has state-by-state numbers for the percentage of the population that is obese, overweight, and/or not exercising. Cities lost points for being in these states.
- Alcohol. Cities lost points for the total number of bars per 100,000 people and state alcohol consumption.
- TV. Those Nielsen ratings don't just tell which shows are most popular. They also show which areas are getting the most boob-tube time.
- Air Quality. Yes, air affects fitness. Cities lost points for ozone-alert days.
- Climate. It's not clear what a city can do about this, short of building a huge dome. But cities lost points for days that were too cold, too hot, or too wet. They gained points for mild, sunny days.
- Geography. Access to outdoor recreation -- forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, beaches, etc. -- was plus for a city.
- Commute. Yep, the Men's Fitness editors figure that the more time you spend in traffic, the more stress you feel and the worse fitness you'll have.
- Parks/Open Space. Total acreage of parks, federal and state recreation areas, and open spaces per 10,000 people added points to city fitness scores.
- Recreation Facilities. Add up those public basketball courts, public pools, public tennis courts, and, yes, public golf courses. Divide by 10,000 people and add it to a city's fitness score.
- Health Care. The survey ranked cities on access to health-care facilities.
From Fat to Fit?
Men's Fitness offers these tips to cities that want to get off the list of fat cities:
- Make it easier for people to get to work.
- Improve air quality.
- Offer employees benefits packages that help pay for health-club membership.
- Install bike lanes. Add bike racks to public buses.
- Support school fitness and nutrition programs.
- Have a local no-TV day.
- Promote citywide fitness events.
- Partner with local restaurants, chambers of commerce, and health clubs to offer people healthy lifestyle choices.
- Invest in public parks and recreation facilities.
- Support adult-education classes in healthy cooking and exercise.
- Develop car-free pedestrian malls and paths for biking, hiking, and skating.
- Treat the obesity epidemic as an urgent public-health crisis.
Reviewed by Michael Smith, MD.
SOURCE: Men's Fitness.
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