Which city do you think is overall more fit and healthy, Phoenix or Pittsburgh. I won’t give you the answer, you’ll have to go to this year’s The ACSM American Fitness Index Report at http://www.americanfitnessindex.org/ to get the answer. They put this report out every year to help city planners, policy makers, health educators, and other professionals understand how the health of the city, residents and community assets that support healthy lifestyles compare to other cities nationwide. The report includes health indicators like the percentage of people who exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, eat the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables, have access to health care, have health insurance, and don’t smoke. Environmental (community) factors included the availability of parks, walking/bike trails and public transportation. I will tell you that we do better on personal health indicators than on community indicators.
2010 American Fitness Report
About the Author: Will Humble
Will Humble, M.P.H.
Director
Arizona Department of Health Services
Cara M. Christ, M.D., M.S. became Director for the Arizona Department of Health Services in May 2015. Dr. Christ has served the agency for more than nine years. Among her many accomplishments at ADHS, Dr. Christ collaborated with health partners and stakeholders to develop strategic plans for infectious disease prevention and control including the Governor’s Council on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response. She was involved in leading statewide efforts during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and worked with partners to find solutions to improve childhood vaccination programs. In 2012, Dr. Christ managed the development and implementation of 20 Articles of Arizona Administrative Code for Health Care Institutions allowing integration of physical and behavioral health services statewide. Dr. Christ obtained her master's degree in microbiology with an emphasis in molecular virology and public health. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Follow the Director on Twitter @DrCaraChrist.
Interesting question to ponder. I lived in Phoenix for 5 years and worked as a fitness professional. I’d consider it a pretty healthy city overall.
It’s interesting to see how some communities can put forth such a concerted effort to live healthy lifestyles, while others seem to almost abandon simple steps towards fitness.
I’m glad to see you guys are doing your part.
I checked the report and since they have the biggest cities listed there are not many from the west which is where I think the people and most healthy. In states like Colorado, Montana and Utah. They have the lowest obesity rates… but not the big cities.
One of my client forwarded link to your Post 2010 American Fitness Report » AZ Dept. of Health Services Director's Blog on Thursday.Your post is a nice one.Please Keep it up .I Love reading on health & fitness.
There are so many factors out there in what makes a city more fit than another. Parks and walking paths can really help people lose weight or get them to a high level of fitness. The nice weather in Arizona doesn’t hurt either!
Interesting post. I believe the indicators that were being used to measure the “most healthy” area, were good things to base it off of. Things like eating fruits and veggies and exercising will surely determine if one is healthy or not.
For me Phoenix is the best.I’ve lived there for 3 years and i can that they are health conscious .
I like there self control and being responsible about what they do.
As Cory above suggests, it really depends on what criterion are used to measure the differences. One could use the number of healthfood shops as an indicator,perhaps, if one ignored the wide diversity of opinion on exactly what constitutes healthfood, for example!
As always, education is they key to promoting a healthy lifestyle. Great post!