Is Your City The Fattest Or Fittest?
Magazine Names Top 25 Fat, Fit Cities
UPDATED: 2:44 pm CST January 3, 2002
Call it America under stress. Call it an increased appetite. Better yet, call it fat.
Houston -- for the second year in a row -- is the chunkiest city in the country, according to Men's Fitness magazine. The magazine has analyzed the fattest and fittest cities since 1999.This year's findings showed Texas to be the largest state of all -- in more than one way -- with four cities making the top 10 fattest cities list.Coming in second was Chicago, followed by Detroit and Philadelphia.The slimmest city was found to be Colorado Springs, Colo, followed by Denver, although California proved to be the slimmest state, with three cities making the top 10 fittest cities list."The obesity numbers have jumped 61 percent over the past decade," said Men's Fitness Editor in Chief Jerry Kindela. "It doesn't help that 27 percent of us don't engage in any physical activity at all, and another 28.2 percent aren't regularly active."The magazine evaluated the nation's 50 largest cities between July 2001 and September 2001. Cities were analyzed in 16 categories, including sports participation, smoking, drinking, air and water quality, length of commute, availability of parks/open spaces and percentage of overweight/sedentary residents.The survey also found that the fattest cities have common patterns. Citizens tend to have poor exercise and nutrition habits, watch a lot of television and experience more bad weather.And staying fit isn't all about warm weather. Residents of the fittest cities tended to make fitness a priority, along with civic leaders who support them.Philadelphia, 1999's "fattest city," used its dubious distinction as a catalyst to create an innovative, cost-effective fitness initiative involving community members, government, and business.In 2000, Philadelphia dropped to No. 3, and this year the city ranks No. 4.An estimated 300,000 Americans die of obesity-related causes each year, and the cost of obesity and inactivity account for nearly 10 percent of all health care expenses.Direct medical costs of obesity alone top $100 billion annually, and the price tag keeps skyrocketing.
Top 25 Fattest, Fittest Cities
Houston -- for the second year in a row -- is the chunkiest city in the country, according to Men's Fitness magazine. The magazine has analyzed the fattest and fittest cities since 1999.This year's findings showed Texas to be the largest state of all -- in more than one way -- with four cities making the top 10 fattest cities list.Coming in second was Chicago, followed by Detroit and Philadelphia.The slimmest city was found to be Colorado Springs, Colo, followed by Denver, although California proved to be the slimmest state, with three cities making the top 10 fittest cities list."The obesity numbers have jumped 61 percent over the past decade," said Men's Fitness Editor in Chief Jerry Kindela. "It doesn't help that 27 percent of us don't engage in any physical activity at all, and another 28.2 percent aren't regularly active."The magazine evaluated the nation's 50 largest cities between July 2001 and September 2001. Cities were analyzed in 16 categories, including sports participation, smoking, drinking, air and water quality, length of commute, availability of parks/open spaces and percentage of overweight/sedentary residents.The survey also found that the fattest cities have common patterns. Citizens tend to have poor exercise and nutrition habits, watch a lot of television and experience more bad weather.And staying fit isn't all about warm weather. Residents of the fittest cities tended to make fitness a priority, along with civic leaders who support them.Philadelphia, 1999's "fattest city," used its dubious distinction as a catalyst to create an innovative, cost-effective fitness initiative involving community members, government, and business.In 2000, Philadelphia dropped to No. 3, and this year the city ranks No. 4.An estimated 300,000 Americans die of obesity-related causes each year, and the cost of obesity and inactivity account for nearly 10 percent of all health care expenses.Direct medical costs of obesity alone top $100 billion annually, and the price tag keeps skyrocketing.Top 25 Fattest, Fittest CitiesDistributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
