We are just 11 days into our heart-healthy New Year's resolutions knowing that fitness, diet and timely access to healthcare are some of the best ways to achieve our goals. Collectively, we have recommitted to vegetables, fitness apps, and our reusable water bottles. But what if your hometown has more barriers to healthy living than others? Should we also be considering a move across state or city lines?
Studies show that when it comes to health and well-being, location plays a huge role. In order to uncover which US cities were leaders in healthy living, WalletHub pulled a number of sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Census Bureau. They evaluated numerous metrics across four dimensions: healthcare, fitness, food, and access to green space. Researchers compared data from a total of 174 cities. Cities were chosen by population with 150 of them being the most populous cities in the US. Researchers also included at least two of the most populous cities in each state.
Each of the four categories was broken down into some measurable parts. The healthcare category included things like premature death rate, physical health, family doctors per capita, and the cost of a medical visit. The food category consisted of things like daily fruit and vegetable consumption, the availability of healthy restaurants, and the number of dietitians and nutritionists per capita. In the fitness category, they counted numbers of adults who said they regularly engage in physical activity, fitness clubs per capita, fitness trainers per capita and more. Finally, the green space category considered metrics like the number of hiking trails available for residents, the quality of city parks and the number of parkland acres per capita.
Coming in at number 10 Denver, CO which came in at number four in the fitness category overall.
9.Irvine, CA -with one of the lowest premature death rates this California city landed on the list.
8. Honolulu, HI- with lots of options for delicious, healthy food and a lovely climate, being fit in Honolulu is easy.
7.Scottsdale, AZ- with lots of fitness clubs and recreational leagues this city scored number one in fitness overall.
6. Burlington, VT- this city loved their vegetables and made the list for having the lowest percentage of adults reporting they didn’t get enough veggies and fruits.
5. Washington, DC- a runners paradise, the city has an incredible number of running trails.
4. San Diego, CA- the scenic trails along this city is waterfront or just one of the ways the city promotes healthy living.
3. Portland, OR- with over 11,000 acres of Parkland it’s no wonder Oregon’s largest city is breaking into the top three this year.
2.Seattle, WA- Seattle has the second highest ratings for both fitness and green spaces making this lovely green gem last year’s runner up.
1. San Francisco, CA- beautiful weather, fantastic food options and the highest rating in the green space category landed this stunning coastal city at the top of the list.
Sources: WalletHub