California's Fittest Cities (San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco: 2009, transporting, high school)

[FresnoFacts]

This looked like a fun study to discuss.

Men's Fitness magazine released its annual ranking of the fittest and fattest among 50 cities in the US.

Breaking out California, the fittest to fattest in the list were:
Fittest to Fattest (number is national ranking out of 50 cities)
12. San Francisco
19. Sacramento
20. Oakland
22. Fresno
27. San Diego
30. LA/Long Beach
36. San Jose

Details on the criteria can be found by clicking the links at this page.
The Fittest and Fattest Cities in America 2009 - Men's Fitness

[The Floridian]

USA; the last 10 years, we hold the title as the most obese country in the world.

Why?

1. Laziness to eat the right thing and cook at home.
2. Stress from working like a dog to pay for your 6 bedroom/5 bath mansion, 3 Hummers and 2 Ferraris.
3. Americans addicted to fast food (more laziness).

California and Florida are your best bets: LA, Miami, SD or SF!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by The Floridian

USA; the last 10 years, we hold the title as the most obese country in the world.

Why?

1. Laziness to eat the right thing and cook at home.
2. Stress from working like a dog to pay for your 6 bedroom/5 bath mansion, 3 Hummers and 2 Ferraris.
3. Americans addicted to fast food (more laziness).

California and Florida are your best bets: LA, Miami, SD or SF!

[Winston Smith]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting the info. Wonder to what degree the car-culture plays into the obesity factor. San Francisco, where people walk a lot as a means of transporting themselves, is sure to be fitter for that reason alone than some heavy car-culture area like, say, San Antono.

[Charles]

Three of the strongest predictors of obesity are %poverty, %uneducated and %African American.

"Also contributing to the state's [Alabama] obesity are simple demographics. For instance, blacks tend to be more obese than other racial groups, and Alabama has a relatively high black population. "

and

"Poorer people also tend to be more obese, and Alabama is a relatively poor state. In Alabama, the obesity rate for people who make less than $15,000 a year is 31 percent; for those earning more than $75,000 a year it falls to 21 percent.
Also, the less educated are more likely to be obese, and Alabamians tend to receive less education than residents elsewhere in the nation. The obesity rate in Alabama is 26 percent for adults with a high school education and 18 percent for college graduates."

from

Huntsville Times: Why are people in Alabama so fat?

[yo vanilla]

Originally Posted by The Floridian

USA; the last 10 years, we hold the title as the most obese country in the world.

Why?

1. Laziness to eat the right thing and cook at home.
2. Stress from working like a dog to pay for your 6 bedroom/5 bath mansion, 3 Hummers and 2 Ferraris.
3. Americans addicted to fast food (more laziness).

California and Florida are your best bets: LA, Miami, SD or SF!

Funny you said that since they picked Miami as their #1 fattest city

Every year I'm surprised to see Milwaukee up on the list of fittest cities. It makes me think, you know, if Milwaukee just missed the top 10 of fittest cities, then overall we're in pretty bad shape (to be fair though it's really not too bad). It does surprise me that we beat every single California city, that and places like Las Vegas, Miami, y'know warm places where you'd think people could take advantage of the year-round opportunity to get outside. However, we aren't as obsessed with big-box franchise food as it seems other places are. If there's one thing to be said about Wisconsin - we have an abundance of great restaurants that serve real, edible, less-than-nationally-mass-produced food. I'm a bit of a food nut and that, without a doubt in my mind, is the key.

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by Charles

Three of the strongest predictors of obesity are %poverty, %uneducated and %African American.

"Also contributing to the state's [Alabama] obesity are simple demographics. For instance, blacks tend to be more obese than other racial groups, and Alabama has a relatively high black population. "

and

"Poorer people also tend to be more obese, and Alabama is a relatively poor state. In Alabama, the obesity rate for people who make less than $15,000 a year is 31 percent; for those earning more than $75,000 a year it falls to 21 percent.
Also, the less educated are more likely to be obese, and Alabamians tend to receive less education than residents elsewhere in the nation. The obesity rate in Alabama is 26 percent for adults with a high school education and 18 percent for college graduates."

from

Huntsville Times: Why are people in Alabama so fat?

Although I would point out that in California, Oakland and Fresno rank fitter than San Diego and San Jose. Makes you wonder.

Maybe its that row of Twinkies and soda by the checkout lines at Fry's in the Silicon Valley.

[CaliDude1]

How exactly are they determining what "fit" and "fat" are? If they are using the BMI model it is a bit flawed. According to the BMI model I am overweight. If you saw me you would never call me overweight. I am always a little skeptical when magazines put together their little "lists" on things.

[FresnoFacts]

Its not just BMI but rather a combination of factors that they use to indicate lifestyle.

For example, the magazine scored San Francisco this way, then used these scores to rank it 12th fittest (it looks like they do the entire region not just the central city in these rankings, which explains SF's commute score):
Fitness Centers & Sport Stores: C
Nutrition: A
Sports Participation: C-
TV Viewing: A
Overweight/Sedentary: A
Junk Food: C
Air Quality: B+
Geography: A
Commute: F
Parks & Open Space: D+
City Rec Facilities: D-
Access to Healthcare: B-
Motivation: C
Mayor & City Initiatives: B+
State Obesity Initiatives: A