Denver rated one of the healthiest cities (Aurora: transplants, school)

[woob]

here's another interesting study for folks to debate-
According to the "American Fitness Index" denver is ranked the third healthiest city in the country.

there is a great multimedia map presenting the data here-
American Fitness Index (http://www.americanfitnessindex.org/index.htm#quickview - broken link)

and denver's stats
http://www.americanfitnessindex.org/...rts/denver.pdf

Denver's strengths I was already aware of- low rates of obesity and diabetes, higher rates of walking and physical activity.

Interestingly denver has a lower than average percentage of parkland and acres of park per capita. I know denver prides itself on open space and accessible parks. denver appears to have a high number of parks, ball fields, tennis courts and pools, but less land area dedicated to these uses. any thoughts?

[Katarina Witt]

If you look at the MSA range for parkland statisitics, we are certainly "in the ballpark", pun intended. As with all these things, it depends on how "parkland" is defined, as well.

[tfox]

Denver does have a lot of parks in terms of number, but it's very likely that we don't have the acreage of traditional parkland that some other cities do -- possibly due to our arid climate. Most of the city of Denver's historic parks are actually ill-suited for our climate, consisting of lots of green lawns that are difficult to maintain in a desert, although the landscape architecture of many of Denver's historic parks is incredible. Some of the more recently installed parks are more xeriscaped and more climate-friendly, but in the city of Denver these are a small minority.

On some measures, though Denver has among the tops in the nation in terms of city-owned parkland, if you count the city-managed Mountain parks and city owned open space, nearly all of which is not in Denver County. A lot of people don't realize that much of Western (Foothills) Jefferson County (and beyond) is actually owned and managed by the city of Denver for conservation and recreation, and much of the rest of it is Jefferson County Open Space, Colorado State Parks, National Forest, etc. On the plains, Metro Denver has done quite a bit in terms of protecting open space (some of which is open for public recreation, some of which is not). Much of Denver's extensive network of trails and multi-use-paths traverses these open spaces.

So, as Katiana said, a lot depends on how you define parkland.

[VALGAL222]

Denver was ranked #9 and Aurora #10. I just moved from Albuquerque, NM (ranked #6) and there is NO WAY that is a leaner city. I listed the criteria they used below. What are your thoughts?



"To arrive at our rankings, we calculated the percentage of people who are overweight, the percentage with type 2 diabetes, the percentage who haven't left the couch in a month (CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System); the money spent on junk food (Bureau of Labor Statistics); and finally, the number of people who ate fast food nine or more times in a month (Mediamark Research)." The Fattest Cities - MSN Health & Fitness - Weight Loss (http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100257787&gt1=31036 - broken link)

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by VALGAL222

Denver was ranked #9 and Aurora #10. I just moved from Albuquerque, NM (ranked #6) and there is NO WAY that is a leaner city. I listed the criteria they used below. What are your thoughts?



"To arrive at our rankings, we calculated the percentage of people who are overweight, the percentage with type 2 diabetes, the percentage who haven't left the couch in a month (CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System); the money spent on junk food (Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100257787&gt1=31036# - broken link)); and finally, the number of people who ate fast food nine or more times in a month (Mediamark Research)." The Fattest Cities - MSN Health & Fitness - Weight Loss (http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100257787&gt1=31036 - broken link)

Out of all the places I've lived, I do believe the stats about Denver being fit. Not everyone is in great shape, but I think the criteria of things that CAN be measured (diabetes and weight and fast food money spent) are probably accurate. However, I can also see that there are probably plenty of people who lie about the other criteria. If someone called you and asked you how many hours you sat on your couch...do people tell the truth? Most couch potatoes know it's not a good idea so I'm wondering if they don't lower the hours to make themselves look better or to say they don't eat at McDonalds every other day.

Just as a side note, I was totally shocked at how many obese people there were in Florida. When we moved there, I had this image in my mind of thin beautiful people walking on the beaches and in reality, most people in teeny-weenie bikinis should not have been wearing them. With all the nice weather in Florida, you'd think there would be thin people, but in Colorado, there are a lot more and it's something you notice right away.

[Currency Pair Crocodile]

I often hear CO is the healthiest and fittest state.

[VALGAL222]

I think Denver definately should have ranked higher! Perhaps our alcohol consumption was part of the "junk food" stats that they used? Perhaps only the inactive were available when called for the survey about couch time?

[Mike from back east]

Denver, and Colorado as a whole, consistently come out in the top ten in terms of healthiest or leanest states. Here's a link with more recent data, Colorado essentially stands alone in thinnest.

I see very few of the All You Can Eat (AYCE) places here, unlike many places back east that are full of these eating troughs. The education level of people in COLO speaks well of them and their food choices, as does an ability to get outdoors for exercise all year round.

[vegaspilgrim]

Compared to other states Colorado has routinely been ranked #1 comparatively for lowest obesity rates. Yet Colorado's rate today (18%) is still way higher than it used to be-- higher than the national average rate in 1980 (~15%), when these numbers started to take off.

I also find it odd how quickly these greasy burger joints have been proliferating in Denver in recent years, for such a "healthy" place: Smashburger, Five Guys, Old School Burgers, etc.

[VALGAL222]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Compared to other states Colorado has routinely been ranked #1 comparatively for lowest obesity rates. Yet Colorado's rate today (18%) is still way higher than it used to be-- higher than the national average rate in 1980 (~15%), when these numbers started to take off.

I also find it odd how quickly these greasy burger joints have been proliferating in Denver in recent years, for such a "healthy" place: Smashburger, Five Guys, Old School Burgers, etc.

I wonder if the change in obesity rates and the growth of greasy burger joints coincides with influx of transplants and thus population growth over the years? Such a nerd but I find items like this so interesting!


I still cannot believe AlBIGquerque beat Denver, but then again they compiled their rankings from some very subjective stats...