If your favorite thing to do is yoga or eat fresh berries, you probably love going to the doctor’s office and getting a report card on your good health.
The citizens of Arlington, Va., probably feel a little like you after being rated the “fittest city” in the 2019
American College of Sports Medicine American Fitness Index.
The top ten cities were:
1 Arlington, Va.;
2 Seattle, Wash.;
3 Minneapolis, Minn.;
4 San Francisco, Calif.;
5 Madison, Wisc.;
6 Washington, D.C.;
7 St. Paul, Minn.;
8 Irvine, Calif.;
9 Denver, Colo.; and
10 Portland, Ore.
America’s “fittest” cities are judged by a variety of metrics, including air quality, transportation, parks, exercise, personal health, community environment, bike score, healthy eating, farmers markets, health outcomes (high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, et cetera).
Here is what the report says about healthy eating relative to the fitness index:
The Fitness Index scores show that adults tend to eat fruit more regularly than vegetables. Across all 100 cities, an average of 33.4 percent of adults reported eating at least two servings of fruit per day and 16.4 percent reported eating at least three or more servings of vegetables per day.
Proximity to fresh produce affects healthy eating, too. Local farmers markets have been shown to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, especially when paired with nutrition assistance programs like SNAP and WIC.27-28 Washington, D.C., led the way with 82.1 farmers markets per one million residents, while five cities reported no farmers markets.
Top Cities for Eating 2 or more fruits per day
1. Madison, Wisc.;
2. Newark, N.J.;
3. Fresno, Calif.;
4. Nashville, Tenn.;
5. Boise, Idaho;
6. San Diego, Calif.;
7. Chula Vista, Calif.;
8. Arlington, Va.;
9. San Jose, Calif.; and
10. Arlington, Texas
Top Cities for 3 or more vegetables per day
1. Washington, D.C.;
2. Nashville, Tenn.;
3. Arlington, Va.;;
4. Irving, Texas;
5. Santa Ana, Calif.;
6. Anaheim, Calif.;
7. Irvine, Calif.;
8. Anchorage, Alaska;
9. San Jose, Calif.; and
10. Garland, Texas
Top Cities for Farmers Markets
1. Washington, D.C.;
2. Minneapolis, Minn.;
3. Madison, Wisc.;
4. Honolulu, Hawaii;
5. Arlington, Va.;
6. Richmond, Va.;
7. Boston, Mass.;
8. Cleveland, Ohio;
9. Pittsburgh, Pa.; and
10. Anchorage, Alaska
An interactive tool allows for comparison of cities, and my hometown of Kansas City did poorly.
As the 67th rated city, only 28.3% of our resident consumed more than 2 fruits per day, compared with 46.6% in Madison, Wisc., the top rated fruit eating city.
Just under 13% of Kansas City residents consumed more than 3 servings of vegetables per day, compared with 29.5% of residents in Washington, D.C., the top city for vegetable consumption.
