What are America’s fittest cities?

cities, where we live — By Bob Riel on June 24, 2009 at 7:13 am

Where are the fittest people in the United States? We’re talking about a city, here. not an Olympic training village. I bet you’re not guessing Washington, D.C., are you? Home to all those politicians and government bureaucrats. And yet, according to a recent American Fitness Index study that was released by the American College of Sports Medicine, residents of the nation’s capital are in fact among the most fit in the country. The D.C. area finished first among 45 metropolitan areas.

The study ranked the cities on 30 measures, ranging from the cardiovascular disease death rate to the percent of residents who bike or walk to work. Forbes.com published an overview of the results.

According to the index, Washington, D.C., residents are healthier than other Americans for a number of reasons. They have increased access to farmers’ markets, at 13 per 1 million residents, compared to a national average of 11. Fewer residents smoke and have diabetes, and nearly 90% have health insurance compared to a national average of 86%.

Still, Thompson was surprised to see the city rank first for the second consecutive year. “[It] is not mentioned in discussions of cities that have a strong fitness orientation,” he says. But the data demonstrated only a handful of weaknesses, most of them having to do with the limited number of recreational facilities.

Well, if Washington, D.C., was an unexpected contender, some of the other top cities are not as much of a surprise. The rest of the top 10 are: Minneapolis, Denver, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Austin and Virginia Beach. You can check out the entire list of 45 ranked metropolitan areas, or see a Forbes slide show of the cities.

What does it all mean in the end? Well, obviously, you can be fit anywhere. It’s a personal lifestyle choice. But this list does give you an idea of which regions care more about issues of health and lifestyle and thereby provide access to a more fitness friendly infrastructure. Just as with the list of bike-friendly cities that I recently covered, it’s one more piece of information if you’re looking to live in a place that shares some of your lifestyle values.