That's Fit

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), if you live in Austin TX or Boston MA you might want to think twice before going out to eat.

CSPI has ranked 20 US cities from best to worst using criteria from the city's food inspectors. The ranking considers "how often city inspectors found five major health hazards and five less critical concerns in 30 high-end, medium-range, and fast-food eateries in each city." Hand washing, maintaining food at a proper temperature, and improper cooking are some of the major health hazards. Minor infractions include poor employee cleanliness and hygiene, rodent and/or insect infestation, presence of sick restaurant workers, and contact of bare hands with food.

The CSPI encourages cities to adopt a restaurant grading program similar to a program in LA County where restaurants have to post what health inspection grade they received -- A, B, or C. (Lower grades would result in temporary or permanent closure).

Keep reading to see the CSPI's "Dirty Dining" list from worst to best.

The American College of Sports Medicine has tallied the statistics to rank 15 of America's largest metropolitan cities. Which cities were deemed the fittest? Which fell at the bottom, and why?

The goal of the fitness index is to give a quick glimpse of the health status of America's metropolitan areas. Ultimately the ACSM hopes to help cities achieve a higher level of physical activity and healthy eating habits. The reports about each city include strategies for improvement. The top five cities were:

• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Boston, MA
• Washington D.C.
• Atlanta, GA

Using factors such as stress levels, cardiovascular mortality, high blood pressure, smoking, and the number of people who commute by foot/bike instead of car, the American Heart Association ranked the best cities/metropolitan areas for women's heart health. Did your city make the list?

• Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota
• Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia
• Denver-Aurora, Colorado
• Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts
• Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington
• Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Oregon
• San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California
• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California
• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona.
  
  

Nashville, St. Louis, and Detroit metropolitan areas were ranked as the three most unhealthy cities for women. Want to see more? Read Chris' post about the 20 healthiest US cities.

Using statistics from such organizations as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Zagat Survey, the magazine Cooking Light ranked the most healthy major metropolitan areas in the U.S.

Some of the cities to appear on the list may be expected, while others may be a bit surprising. Either way, if living healthy is your goal, a good start may be taking up residence in any one of these health-conscious locales.

After reading through the list, you can then check out an explanation for why these cities made the list by clicking here.

1. Seattle

2. Portland, OR

3. Washington D.C.

4. Minneapolis

5. San Francisco

6. Boston

7. Denver

8. Milwaukee

9. Philadelphia

If you were to guess what U.S. city consumes the most caffeine, which would it be? Me, I'd go with Seattle. Would I be correct? Not quite.

Seattle, while it does rank number one in coffee consumption, still falls short with regard to total caffeine consumption. Surprisingly (at least to me), Chicago was found to consume more total caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate, energy drinks, soda, and caffeine pills) than Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and every other major city in the nation. These results come from a survey conducted by Prince Market Research.

I've never actually been to the windy city, but if I do plan to visit in the near future, I suppose I should expect to run into a whole bunch of highly energized people while I'm there!!

It's easy to blame our diet and exercise woes on outside factors. We're too busy, too tired, too poor to afford a gym membership. There's a zillion excuses for explaining why we eat junk food, why we ditch our fitness routines, why we pack on the pounds. Most of them relate to our individual behavior. But environment plays a part too. In fact, your very own ZIP code may be at fault for that extra jiggle you're carrying around. Chris Sparling took this topic for a spin on Thursday. Here are some more details.

Zip code 98103 is one of Seattle's skinniest ZIP codes. Is it because the neighborhoods in this area have destination parks, crosswalks, corner grocers, and one of the densest concentrations of farmers markets in the city? Yep. These perks are exactly what makes this ZIP code so popular -- and what keeps its residents so fit and trim. In other areas, with a lack of access to fresh produce, health insurance, and nutritious and affordable groceries, obesity rates are higher. In ZIP code 98133, obesity rates are higher than 20 percent.

The strongest predictor of obesity rates isn't income or education, according to University of Washington researchers. It's property values. Each additional $100,000 in median home value for a ZIP code corresponded in one study with a drop in obesity of two percentage points.

What do you think? Is your ZIP code making you fat?

A little while back I questioned the spuriousness of the supposed relationship between diet soda and weight gain. To me, at least, it seemed as though too many outside variables were not controlled for, resulting in a questionable correlation and an even less likely causal relationship. Thankfully, my hope in statistics was restored when I recently came across a study linking property value and obesity rates.

Based on a study published in Social Science & Medicine, researchers who examined 9,000 Seattle residents discovered that property values were a better predictor of obesity rates than income, race, or education. In the more costly parts of the city (where most home prices hovered around $585,000), only about 10 percent of residents were obese. In areas of the city where home prices were lower (averaging around $319,000), obesity rates were higher than 20 percent.

This could be attributed to several factors, a few of which are the high cost of eating healthy, the expense of gym and health club memberships, and that most higher-income neighborhoods tend to have fewer-food restaurants in their locale.

One more reason to be careful who you kiss! A Seattle man, Thomas J. Brummel, was making out with his ex-girlfriend, Laura Roberta Cutler, yesterday when out of the blue, she bit off his entire lower lip and spit it out! Ack! Can you believe anyone would do something so disgusting? I almost died while reading the article in my local newspaper today. Ewwwww.

Deputies found the man on his front porch as a gory mess, and one of the rescuers found his lower lip covered in cat hair on the floor inside the home. Gross. I remember refusing to kiss anyone at Mardi Gras when I was in college, because I feared contracting herpes. With weirdos like this woman out there...we apparently have greater reasons to choose our close company wisely.

Neighbors believed Ms. Cutler was drunk during the incident, and she was being held on $75,000 bail for second-degree domestic-violence assault. Doctors could not reattach the lip, and believe the man will be disfigured permanently.

Once a food trend grabs hold, it doesn't take long for it to sweep the nation. What's hot in big cities like L.A. and New York eventually trickle down to the rest of us, until another great food trend takes hold. So if you're land-locked like me in the middle states and are wondering what those coastal cities are brewing up for us next, take a look at this article from WebMD and learn more about food trends in the big city.

Besides being the first city in the nation to ban trans fats, the NY food scene is bustling with healthy goodness. Organic products are becoming more popular on menus, as is whole wheat, and there are at least two restaurant chains devoted strictly to salads. And natural foods megastore Whole Foods has found many happy customers in NYC residents.

Read more about America's trendsetting cities here, including mini-desserts in Atlanta, small-plate restaurants in Seattle, and the foie gras ban in Chicago. What's hip for foodies where you live?

My dog and I exercise together nearly every day. All I have to do is whistle and she's at the door, so excited I can hardly put on her leash to take her for our daily walk or jog. But doggie yoga? That's a new one for me!

The class, which is offered by a Seattle area humane society, was developed as a way for people to spend time with their pets and to encourage exercise. The yoga poses used in the class are either chosen or modified to be done while staying in physical contact with the dogs. For instance, during "downward facing dog," humans gently rest their heads on their pets. Participants say their pets love it and often relax during classes, and the people in the class benefit from some extra exercise and socializing with their pets.

I'm all for new and innovative ideas that get people exercising and socializing, so good for them! I have to add, though, that I love this picture. That's exactly what my dog would be doing, only she'd probably be lying on her back, feet in the air...lazy thing. I think we'll stick to our daily walks; we both need the exercise!