From the poor to the affluent, Americans are increasingly afflicted by obesity. By some measures, up to 30% of Americans are obese. Which cities are fattest, which are fittest, and how can you improve your own physical situation?

Obesity, once considered an affliction of the lower socio-economic strata has now found its way into middle and upper class levels as well.  America as a nation is currently experiencing a 30% obesity rate.  That means one in every three Americans is obese!  This is due to many factors including high calorie, low nutrient packed foods, accessibility to fast foods, infrastructure that is not conducive to walking and harried lives that make finding time to exercise difficult. 

Men’s Fitness Magazine has conducted an annual survey since 2000 ranking the fittest and fattest citied in the country.  They used a variety of variables to rank the top 25 of each.  These categories included environmental factors affecting fitness, obesity, and health. 

The categories are:

Gyms/Wellness Centers:  The total number of clubs, gyms, and fitness studios as well as the total number of sporting-goods retailers ranked per 100,000 people.

Nutrition:  Based on the average frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption and total number of health food stores per 100,000 people.

 
Exercise/Sports:  Total participation in 103 sports and fitness-related activities.

Overweight/Sedentary: Percentage of obese, overweight, and non-exercisers based on CDC data.

Junk Food:  Total number of fast-food outlets, ice cream shops, and doughnut stores per 100,000 people.
 
Alcohol:  Based on total number of bars per 100,000 people and apparent alcohol consumption by state from federal statistics.

TV: Home use of televisions.

Air Quality: Based on annual EPA reports.

Climate:  The climate index was based on National Weather Service information combining estimated annual days above 32 degrees and below 90 degrees, amounts of precipitation and sunshine, and the August heat/humidity index.

Geography: Accessible recreational forests, lakes, rivers, waterways, mountains, and ocean beaches, compiled from almanacs and additional sources.

Commute: Based on the Travel Time Index, which measures traffic delays due to congestion.

Parks/Open Space: Based on total acreage per 10,000 population of federal and state recreation areas plus all listed water areas and number of city parks per 10,000 people.

Recreation Facilities:  Number of public basketball courts, swimming pools, tennis courts, and golf courses per 10,000 people.
 
Health Care: Based on city-by-city ranking of health resources and access.

The following are the top ten fittest and fattest cities:

2007 RANKING  

The Top 10 Fattest Cities in 2007
     
    1. Las Vegas             
    2. San Antonio           
    3. Miami                 
    4. Mesa, AZ              
    5. Los Angeles           
    6. Houston               
    7. Dallas                
    8. El Paso               

    9. Detroit               
    10. San Jose             

    The Top 10 Fittest Cities in 2007

    2007 RANKING        
    1. Albuquerque      
    2. Seattle             
    3. Colorado Springs       
    4. Minneapolis           
    5. Tucson                
    6. Denver                
    7. San Francisco         
    8. Baltimore             
    9. Portland              
    10. Honolulu             

    The Junk Food Capital:  Cleveland

    The Most Athletic City:  Milwaukee

    The City That Watches the Most TV:  Memphis

    The City with the Best Eating Habits:  Oakland, CA

There is no single reason or factor that contributes to obesity.  Instead there are many reasons such as economic status, frequency of exercise, limiting the amount of fast food in one’s diet, food portions which are often well above healthy ranges, emotional or celebratory eating, and the start we give our children in schools and at home with the choices we make for them all contribute to the obesity rate.

Some solutions to the epidemic we are experiencing are reinstating daily physical education at the school level so that our children develop good habits, making sure our local fast food restaurants offer healthy choices, educating our population with respect to portion sizes and nutritious ways to prepare food.

In addition, locally we can open more fitness facilities instead of fast food restaurants, institute car pooling measures, clean up our parks, improve air quality, and increase education regarding the food pyramid.  If we could make a small difference in each of the above listed variables we could make a big change towards fitness and away from unhealthy behaviors. 

By Christina Leon, Staff Writer