The American College of Sports Medicine released its eighth edition of their annual fitness report on Tuesday, which ranks the physical fitness of 50 major U.S. cities. The report, called American Fitness Index, shows Washington, D.C. leads the pack as the most fit city in America, while Indianapolis is last.
The rankings, based on outdoor exercise options and rates of smoking, obesity and diabetes, are designed to be a “call to action” for areas to improve their infrastructures so they promote healthy lifestyles, says Walter Thompson, chair of the AFI advisory board and a professor of kinesiology at Georgia State University.
Access to outdoor parks and bike paths helped D.C. score the top spot for the second year in a row. However, even though they ranked No. 1 in all of these United States, they still scored below ACSM’s target goals in every single health behavior category. The target goal is to have 82.6 percent of a population to have performed any kind of physical activity or exercise within the last 30 days; D.C. came in at only 73 percent.
“They set a low bar here and we’re still not beating it,” says Trust for America’s Health executive director Jeffrey Levi.
So, great job, America. Our most physically fit city is still under-performing and lazy.
To see where other major U.S. cities stack up, as well as rankings from previous years dating back to 2008, click here. Or you can close down your web browser and go outside to play.
Ha, just kidding.
[via USA Today]
