Minneapolis remains top of fittest US city ranking
Source: Agencies |
June 26, 2012, Tuesday
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FITNESS is often a combination of personal choice and environmental support, experts say, and a ranking of the 50 healthiest United States cities seems to reinforce the theory.
High rates of physical activity helped to propel Minneapolis-St Paul to the top of the list of the American College of Sports Medicine's 2012 American Fitness Index for the second year in a row, while raised obesity levels and smoking pushed Oklahoma City to the bottom.
"When I say Minneapolis ranked No. 1, people give me an 'are you kidding me' kind of look," said Walter Thompson, the chairman of the AFI Advisory Board. "Between November 1 and April 1 they have cold and snow, but they've addressed that."
Thompson said the solution was a proliferation of exercise studios that dot main streets, and a local government that has invested resources in park lands. When people in Minneapolis were asked if they had any physical activity in the last 30 days, he said 82.9 percent said they had.
The index, which considered factors ranging from the number of tennis courts to the percentage of smokers, relied on information from federal government data, such as Centers for Disease Control and United States Census reports, as well as information from the 50 cities.
Washington, DC, Boston, San Francisco and Hartford were the five fittest, healthiest metros, while Birmingham, Dallas, Louisville, Detroit and Oklahoma City fared the poorest.
"A couple of cities have made significant improvements," said Thompson about the rankings, which began in 2008. New York City, ranked 22, climbed eight spots since 2011, while Nashville, at 27, gained 10.
High rates of physical activity helped to propel Minneapolis-St Paul to the top of the list of the American College of Sports Medicine's 2012 American Fitness Index for the second year in a row, while raised obesity levels and smoking pushed Oklahoma City to the bottom.
"When I say Minneapolis ranked No. 1, people give me an 'are you kidding me' kind of look," said Walter Thompson, the chairman of the AFI Advisory Board. "Between November 1 and April 1 they have cold and snow, but they've addressed that."
Thompson said the solution was a proliferation of exercise studios that dot main streets, and a local government that has invested resources in park lands. When people in Minneapolis were asked if they had any physical activity in the last 30 days, he said 82.9 percent said they had.
The index, which considered factors ranging from the number of tennis courts to the percentage of smokers, relied on information from federal government data, such as Centers for Disease Control and United States Census reports, as well as information from the 50 cities.
Washington, DC, Boston, San Francisco and Hartford were the five fittest, healthiest metros, while Birmingham, Dallas, Louisville, Detroit and Oklahoma City fared the poorest.
"A couple of cities have made significant improvements," said Thompson about the rankings, which began in 2008. New York City, ranked 22, climbed eight spots since 2011, while Nashville, at 27, gained 10.
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