The new American Fitness Index report ranks the overall fitness of the country’s 50 most populous cities. Topping this year’s list: Washington, D.C. In last place: Indianapolis.
How Do You Measure Fitness?
The project—a collaboration between the American College of Sports Medicine and the Anthem Foundation—doesn’t determine rankings solely based on individuals’ behaviors, such as daily exercise. Yes, cities do score points for residents’ workouts and veggie consumption, but they're also graded on infrastructure that supports healthy lifestyles, including number of recreational facilities, prevalence of farmer’s markets, and acres of park land. For instance, in D.C., 95 percent of residents are less than a 10-minute walk from a local park. Only 31 percent of Indianapolis residents can say the same.
Even cities that earned high marks—such as Sacramento and Portland, Oregon, ranked fifth and seventh, respectively—have a long way to go. In Portland, for instance, nearly 70 percent of residents fail to meet the aerobic exercise guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[For more of this story, written by Jessica Leigh Hester, go to http://www.citylab.com/politic...arent-enough/393617/]
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