Health News: The Ten Most Active Cities in America

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Category: Health, Wellness, Relationships
Published on Sunday, 24 January 2016 10:51
Written by Natalie Morin

Nearly half way through January and those New Year’s resolutions already need dusting off. That’s right . . what, in my champagne fueled madness did I openly pledged, promise to my friends, neighbors, partner and self that I would faithfully maintain? What were they again?

As important as it is to make a fresh set of New Year's resolutions when Dec. 31 rolls around, it is also the time when people can assess the previous year's goals. Did they make good on their promises or pretend like they never made resolutions in the first place? Did that portion of their paycheck actually go into the savings account? Did they replace those chips for apples?

One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is staying or becoming healthy. So HealthGrove did the math to evaluate who succeeded in the past couple of years. Using data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HealthGrove identified the 10 most active cities in America.

The CDC collects data on a variety of health measures through the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is a national survey on health behaviors and outcomes. Within that survey, certain large metropolitan areas report to a database called Selected Metropolitan Area Risk Trends (SMART).

In 2012, they asked people the question, "During the past month, did you participate in any physical activities?" HealthGrove sorted the metropolitan areas by this metric and added supporting data points. These included measures of whether people in these areas did "150 minutes of aerobic activity in past week" and "muscle strengthening exercises 2x per week" (collected in 2011). Some metro areas don't have data for these metrics. HealthGrove also added each city's obesity rate for reference in addition to the visualization below:

 

#10. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

Percent physically active in the past month: 84.53%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 60.3%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 35.09%

Percent obesity: 23.71%

#9. Kapaa, HI

 

Percent physically active in the past month: 85.08%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 66.42%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 32.58%

Percent obesity: 18.87%

#8. Burlington-South Burlington, VT

 

Percent physically active in the past month: 85.11%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 59.07%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 31.68%

Percent obesity: 23.5%

#7. Provo-Orem, UT

 

Percent physically active in the past month: 85.47%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 57.23%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 34.71%

Percent obesity: 21.03%

#6. Eugene, OR

 

Percent physically active in the past month: 85.65%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 64.96%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 32.75%

Percent obesity: 28.44%

#5. Logan, UT-ID

 

Percent physically active in the past month: 86.71%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 60.42%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 30.18%

Percent obesity: 22.92%

#4. Fort Collins, CO

 

Percent physically active in the past month: 87.58%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 64.84%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 42.46%

Percent obesity: 16.3%

#3. Barre, VT

 

Percent physically active in the past month: 87.71%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 56.09%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 30.17%

Percent obesity: 24.45%

#2. Heber, UT

 

Percent physically active in the past month: 88.96%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 67.9%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 30.33%

Percent obesity: 27.1%

#1. Boulder, CO

 

Percent physically active in the past month: 90.76%
Percent engaged in aerobic activity: 72.52%
Percent engaged in muscle strengthening: 39.02%

Percent obesity: 15.11%

Learn More About Health Conditions on HealthGrove

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