The 5 Unhealthiest Cities in America

If you’re looking to move to a new city, you should probably avoid these five. The American College of Sports Medicine graded the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country, and gave each an Annual Fitness Index (AFI) grade, based on obesity rates to activity levels of residents. “These communities just don’t have the right environment to support people who want to be physically fit,” said Walt Thompson of Georgia State University, who oversees the annual AFI. Cities with high AFI scores are ones that have infrastructure such as parks, swimming pools and other community facilities that make physical activity easy for residents. The American College of Sports Medicine based this year’s scorings on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, as well as information from public and private agencies. Each city was ranked on a number of factors and were given a score based on the average of those rankings. 5. Memphis, Tennessee: 36/100 Memphis has the highest rates of obesity in comparison to the other 49 communities studied by AFI researchers. https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/forums/range/read.php?9,26990

They also have the highest death rate caused by cardiovascular disease or diabetes. And, when it comes to residents engaging in physical activity in the last 30 days, Memphis came in very last. Except for golf courses, Memphis has a below average rate of local fitness facilities. 4. Louisville, Kentucky: 35.2/100 Louisville is the smoking capital of America, with the highest smoking rate of any metropolitan area at 28.1 percent. So, it should come as no surprise that the city also has the second highest rate of angina and heart disease. Louisville has a below average rate of fitness infrastructure, with less than 1 swimming pool for every 100,000 residents. 3. San Antonio, Texas: 35.1/100 San Antonio is an unhealthy city because it rates below average on almost all personal-health factors. It has a 32.8 percent obesity rate, the fourth worst compared to 49 other metropolitan areas involved in the study. San Antonio also rates low when it comes to fitness infrastructure — they have a low number of parks and tennis courts. 2. Detroit, Michigan: 33.6/100 Residents of Detroit aren’t very dedicated to their personal physical fitness. They also have a high rate of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and have a low rate of physical fitness facilities. For example, Detroit doesn’t have a single dog park. 1. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: 31.2/100 Oklahoma City is the least healthy city in America. Residents do not get enough physical activity, nor do they have enough fruits and vegetables in their diet. http://uchem.berkeley.edu/forum/read.php?26,500688

They also rank in last place for residents who take public transportation to work. Oklahoma City also does not provide enough fitness facilities for the community, except for golf courses. AFI experts actually met with the city’s mayor last year to suggest ways they can improve the health of residents. Thompson said they have taken some suggestions into account, “but it takes awhile for policy changes to take effect.”https://secure.web.emory.edu/forums/read.php?9,2116,2116#msg-2116