Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is hating this news: His city has been named the fattest city in the nation.

Men's Fitness magazine has bestowed the honor of America's Fattest City on Las Vegas for the second year in a row. Basing its decision on at least 24 different factors -- sports participation rates, time spent working out, number of parks, average commute time, television viewing rates, legislative health initiatives -- this list, which shows Texas as a pretty porky state too, is meant to encourage cities to be healthier.

Mayor Goodman calls the magazine's study irresponsible journalism. Rather than taking offense, says editor in chief Roy Johnson, Goodman should use Sin City's placement on the list as motivation.

"Instead of shooting the messenger, go out for a run," Johnson says. "We use a lot of data, and we're very rigorous about this."

Maybe Goodman should shape up his city, like Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett did after placing 15th on last year's list. Cornett issued a city-wide plan to lose a collective one million pounds. This year, his city ranks 8th.

Cities that turned up pretty healthy include Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, Albuquerque, Denver, and Portland, Oregon. Why are these locations so fit? Minneapolis has more basketball courts and gyms per capita than any other city, Albuquerque has 57 percent fewer drinking establishments per capita than the national average, Denver tops participation rates in running, biking, and walking, and Portland folks reportedly eat lots of fruits and veggies.

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A British friend of mine is always quick to point at America as being the nation spearheading the recent obesity crisis -- to him, most Americans live on little more than junk food. But if he wants to see an example of a gluttonous, junk-food-obsessed country, he needn't look further than his own home, according to this article from The Daily Mail.

According to research, 45% of Britons are addicted to junk food, compared with 44% of Americans and 35% of those from the United Arab Emirates (Emiritians?) The healthiest eaters? The French, not surprisingly.

Perhaps it's time we all picked up a copy of Why French Women Don't Get Fat?

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I'm writing to both congratulate and brag a bit about the newly announced Heisman trophy winner, Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators. I'm a Gator. I've earned all of my degrees up through my Master's at the University of Florida and am very proud of this young man. The first sophomore ever honored with this award.

Being great at football is one thing, and boy is he great at football. But, Tebow is the kind of kid you want to chase down and give a big congratulatory bear hug to. He's of great moral value, strong in academics and more humble than he should be. When millionaire athletes seem to be making both reckless and criminal decisions on a daily basis, Tebow just keeps getting "gooder". "More gooder", as my friend Izzy would say.

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While doing my indoor exercise routine yesterday morning -- my outdoor running and walking is on hiatus while my shin splints heal -- I tuned in to a little Live with Regis & Kelly. Survivor host Jeff Probst was sitting in for Regis, and he and Kelly happily welcomed Janet Jackson for her very fist visit to the show. The spunky threesome talked about Jackson's new movie -- Why Did I Get Married? -- and her new diet and weight loss book. They even discussed a little fitness trivia.

Ripa was thrilled to announce this fitness flash: Rhythm Nation, one of Jackson's smash hits, is reportedly the most listened-to song by those who rock while working out. This information comes courtesy of Fitness Magazine, said Ripa, who happens to have this very song on her iPod. When no one is watching her on the treadmill, she told her audience, she breaks into a total Rhythm Nation dance routine. On the treadmill? Yep, that's what she said.

What's your favorite workout song? And tell us -- do you bust a few moves when no one is looking?

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Sadly, the way the hospital system works most people rarely (if ever) get a choice regarding which hospital they're treated in. It's either an emergency and you end up where ever the ambulance takes you, or if it's a planned situation your choices are usually dictated by your insurance company. But all of that aside, amidst all the health care debates and red tape, some hospitals are rising to the top and managing to give superior care to the people lucky enough to get a bed in one of their rooms.

Leapfrog Group, a health care business group, recently conducted a survey to find the nations top hospitals. They came up with a list of 33 hospitals and 8 children's hospitals all across the country. The best are mostly located in big cities (which is a little frustrating for somebody like me in small town Iowa) and although you can see the complete list here the top three hospitals are:

• Alta Bates Summit Medical Center-Summit Campus, Oakland CA
• Baystate Medical Center, Springfield MA
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston MA

If you or a loved one have ever been treated here count yourself lucky! Unless you had a bad experience?

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