Four Florida Metros Makes the list of America Unhealthiest Cities (Orlando: living, club)

[annerk]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

Boston IMO has the real creme de la creme. Mass General (MGH) and Brigham/Women's along with Beth Isreal. Many in the know would likely put MGH #1 in the country, certainly tops in the world.

I have to disagree. It comes down to what you need to be treated for.

I'm currently being treated for an eye disease. You'd think Johns Hopkins or Weill Cornell, maybe Mayo or Cleveland Clinic, right? Wrong. NONE of those have a specialist for the type of condition I have. )Nor does Mass gen or any of the hospitals you named.

Instead of generalizing on hospitals, it's more important to seek out the best specialists for your condition. A friend of mine's child needed a special surgery to correct a bone deformity. There is exactly ONE surgeon in the US who can do this surgery--in the West Palm area of all places. If I had cancer, Mass Gen wouldn't even be on the short list, but Sloan Kettering and Mayo would.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by annerk

I have to disagree. It comes down to what you need to be treated for.

I'm currently being treated for an eye disease. You'd think Johns Hopkins or Weill Cornell, maybe Mayo or Cleveland Clinic, right? Wrong. NONE of those have a specialist for the type of condition I have. )Nor does Mass gen or any of the hospitals you named.

Instead of generalizing on hospitals, it's more important to seek out the best specialists for your condition. A friend of mine's child needed a special surgery to correct a bone deformity. There is exactly ONE surgeon in the US who can do this surgery--in the West Palm area of all places. If I had cancer, Mass Gen wouldn't even be on the short list, but Sloan Kettering and Mayo would.

I'm talking overall. For cancer, Sloan is up there, but MD Anderson in Houston takes the cake. Mayo isn't even top 5 imo.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

I'm talking overall. For cancer, Sloan is up there, but MD Anderson in Houston takes the cake. Mayo isn't even top 5 imo.

It depends on the type of cancer.

[theurbanfiles]

I think there's two things at play: Culture and climate. For one thing, I don't think working out is a particularly big part of the culture here as some have mentioned. It's just not something people do. If you look at the major four Florida cities, sure there are some good places like Vinoy Park, Bayshore Blvd., Lake Eola, Blanchard Park, Cady Way but especially in Miami and Jacksonville, you really have to go hunting to find a green park space close to the city. Because of that, people don't do it. The city and area around definitely need more parks.

Also, I can say as a northerner, that one of the biggest difficulties about being down here and one of the reasons I've thought about moving back to the north is because of the climate. I know it's all a mindset, but to me, from about the second week of April to mid-late October, you can not have a single day where the high temperature is under 80 degrees, with humidity too. That's okay for just lounging around on the beach, but it's not exactly desirable for exercising. In fact, scientists have declared that the optimal temperature for sustained human athletic performance is 52 degrees. It makes sense, because all you have to do is look at the Pacific Northwest, Scandinavia, and New Zealand to see that people must enjoy working out and being active at those temps. Of course, there are other factors at play, but those are the big two IMO.

I'm loving it right now, and will be for a couple months longer, but in the summer I almost get like reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder, because many times during the day it's not even comfortable to just sit outside, and so being holed up in the air conditioning, I probably see quite a bit more sunshine in January than June.

[theurbanfiles]

I do agree that the health insurance category is sort of a nonfactor and shouldn't be included, it should be about fitness rates. But it's clear that Minneapolis/Boston seemed to fare better than a lot of the country when it came to that too. Which means wearing several layers (as has been my experience up north), on the winter days and keeping the body in montion on the 20s and 30s days pushed people's bodies in those cities closer to the 52 degree equilibrium than anything I've figured out to do down here during the summer (even at night it's still about 85 when humidity is accounted for).

However, Austin is obviously quite the exception, and there summers are just awful, and so it really is possible to engage and change the culture to be more active minded.

[Fl1150]

I agree with Clevelander1991 about it being a culture thing because in a lot of states only concerned about the meat and the gravy tend to be a lot fatter or unhealthy then places who incorporate greens and fruits into their diet. Year round good weather does make a difference as well as the type of environment you live in . NYC gets snow however walking is ingrained into the behavior. LA has nice weather and mountains so people take advantage of that versus places whose culture doesn't encourage that.

[theurbanfiles]

What do you think could be done to improve this in both areas? How do you stay active during those long sweltering summer months? I don't particularly enjoy working out outside, so that's one thing. Also what could be done to ingrain it into the culture like a place like say Austin? Or even Cleveland for that matter.. I seem to have an easier time finding places and (more importantly) groups that are into staying active, while I'm up there.. I would love to see Orlando more active though.

[PDF]

Originally Posted by clevelander1991

What do you think could be done to improve this in both areas? How do you stay active during those long sweltering summer months? I don't particularly enjoy working out outside, so that's one thing. Also what could be done to ingrain it into the culture like a place like say Austin? Or even Cleveland for that matter.. I seem to have an easier time finding places and (more importantly) groups that are into staying active, while I'm up there.. I would love to see Orlando more active though.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but while big cities in Florida may have a big population of overweight people...at least we have good access to great outdoor activities. You can't say that for places like the Northeast and the Midwest where it's constantly cold. We have the resources, people just don't use them.

I love running, but in the summer I won't dare do it in the middle of the day. Either morning or at night for me. But sometimes you just have to deal with it. I don't think it's an issue of finding ways to stay active when it's hot out, but rather it's just people being lazy. It being too hot out to get fit is just another excuse people pile on.

[theurbanfiles]

Originally Posted by PDF

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but while big cities in Florida may have a big population of overweight people...at least we have good access to great outdoor activities. You can't say that for places like the Northeast and the Midwest where it's constantly cold. We have the resources, people just don't use them.

I love running, but in the summer I won't dare do it in the middle of the day. Either morning or at night for me. But sometimes you just have to deal with it. I don't think it's an issue of finding ways to stay active when it's hot out, but rather it's just people being lazy. It being too hot out to get fit is just another excuse people pile on.

I would have to respectfully disagree. Not that Florida has them, but that the north doesn't. Candy Way and Blanchard are certainly good starts, but if you look at acreage of metroparks, and proximity to where people live in comparison to many northern cities, I would say if I'm being honest that having more parks are the one thing that really could be done to improve Orlando as a city, the title of another thread posted. Northern Cities and Southern Cities certainly have different assets which can be used to stay active. However, as you mentioned, people either don't use them, or use them for other purposes (unfortunately pools are more commonly seen as places to relax with a martini than swim. As you were saying it just isn't part of the culture. I have a theory that could have something to do with summer temperatures when taking a look at a place like Oregon, but it could be off base. The same is true for Scandinavia, incredible fitness rates there, with plenty of park space/cooler climate. But, I would still like for Orlando to be like Austin about that.

Edit: I am enjoying Orlando area, particularly at this time of year but the North certainly isn't super cold year round. I would say it's about 6/6 as far as better weather months of the year, which is why in an unrealistic world I would be back and forth depending on the time of year, lol.

[Fl1150]

Originally Posted by PDF

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but while big cities in Florida may have a big population of overweight people...at least we have good access to great outdoor activities. You can't say that for places like the Northeast and the Midwest where it's constantly cold. We have the resources, people just don't use them.

I love running, but in the summer I won't dare do it in the middle of the day. Either morning or at night for me. But sometimes you just have to deal with it. I don't think it's an issue of finding ways to stay active when it's hot out, but rather it's just people being lazy. It being too hot out to get fit is just another excuse people pile on.

THIS THREAD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OBESITY its just about random article calling out random cities it thinks are unhealthy. (Sorry had to clarify that)