Do You Live in a Top Fitness City?

If you're a walker, then Prevention's list of the country's most walkable cities probably caught your eye. Here's another list for you, only this time the American College of Sports Medicine took things up a notch.

Rather than focus on just one aspect -- walk-ability or pollution, for example -- the ACSM rated the most populous metro areas by what they call the American Fitness Index. It's a snapshot of a city's wellness in regards to preventative health care, chronic diseases, access to health care and community resources and policies. Basically, it measures how a city promotes wellness among its citizens, and how healthy those citizens are.

Let's take a look at the top three:

• Washington, D.C.: Topping the list is our nation's capital. A high number of residents there eat five or more fruits and vegetables a day, they have access to farmer's markets, they're more likely to bike or walk to work and a lower number of residents are currently smoking. According to the AFI, D.C. could use more parks and playgrounds, however.
• Minneapolis, MN: Folks in Minnesota aren't eating as many fruits and veggies, but they do have plenty of parkland for outdoor exercise. They've also made great use of recreation centers and have a high requirement for mandated physical education classes.
• Denver, CO: Denver residents don't have good access to farmer's markets, but they do have a higher level of residents who are at least moderately active and have a lower obesity rate.

Interested in reading more? Read AFI's full report, or find your own city on AFI's quick view map.

What did you think about the AFI? Was your city on the list? How did it rank? And did any cities surprise you?