New Report: Healthiest U.S. Cities

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The goal of this report from the American Fitness Index is to provide communities and residents with resources that help them assess, respond and achieve a better, healthier life.

The American Fitness Index aims to:         

  1. Promote active lifestyles
  2. Support local programming to develop better programs accessible to the public

The AFI used publicly available data points that are measured routinely and can be changed through community effort (so climate cannot be considered a health indicator). West Coast cities made up 6 of the top 10 in the report.

But even more interestingly, for the second year running Washington DC tops the American Fitness Index ranking as the healthiest metropolitan area in the U.S. Researchers attribute some of this to the are having an above average access to public infrastructure.

Excerpts from the report looking deeper at Washington D.C.'s ranking

The Top 10 Healthiest Cities in America

  1. Washington, D.C.
  2. Minneapolis
  3. San Diego
  4. San Francisco
  5. Sacramento, Calif.
  6. Denver
  7. Portland
  8. Seattle
  9. Boston
  10. San Jose, Calif.

The American Fitness Index Program helps to improve the health of the nation and promote active lifestyles by supporting local programming to develop a sustainable, healthy community culture.

  • The AFI educates and conducts research around
    • personal health measures
    • preventive health behavior
    • levels of chronic disease conditions
    • Environmental/community resources/policies that support physical activity.

In order to accomplish this goal, community leaders and health planners need to be aware of their community’s health status and behaviors. The index was specifically designed to provide these data and other valuable assistance to cities to help further efforts to improve the health and quality of life of residents, promote healthier lifestyles and encourage community resource development to support physical activity.

  • Key indicators:
    • Obesity
    • chronic disease rates
    • physical inactivity

The American Fitness Index measures cities using an MSA Score:

  • MSA Score: Metropolitan Statistical Data
  • The following formula summarizes the scoring process:
    • n MSA Scorek = ((∑ rki wki)/MSA Scoremax)*100 i=1
  • r = MSA rank on indicator
  • w = weight assigned to indicator
  • k = indicator group
  • n = 15 for personal health indicators and 16 for community/environmental indicators
  • MSA Scoremax = hypothetical score if an MSA ranked best on each of the elements

The problem they're trying to solve is around physical inactivity, which we know can lead to many health problems.

  • For adults, exercise can reduce risk of
    • Premature death
    • Heart disease
    • Stroke
    • High blood pressure
    • Type 2 diabetes
    • Breast cancer
    • Colon cancer
    • Risk of falls
    • Depression
  • For children, exercise can
    • Decrease body fat
    • Improve bone health
    • Cardiorespiratory fitness
    • Muscular strength
    • Reduce depression symptoms

Dive deeper into the full report here: 

https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/acsm_afireport_2015.pdf