Do You Live in a Top Fitness City?
Categories: Fitness
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:
What did you think about the AFI? Was your city on the list? How did it rank? And did any cities surprise you?
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.
What did you think about the AFI? Was your city on the list? How did it rank? And did any cities surprise you?
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