By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press Writer Published January 6, 2006, 6:04 PM CST BALTIMORE -- Baltimore has been named America's fittest city, with Chicago overtaking Houston as the fattest. Last year's fittest city, Seattle, drops to No. 8 in the new list, released today by Men's Fitness magazine. When the annual survey named Baltimore the fittest city in America, many Charm City residents had the same response: You gotta be kidding. Sure, people here are known for eating lots of seafood, but are crab cakes and deep-fried lake trout the staples of a healthy diet? "I think it's probably the most mis-fit city in America," said Charisse Bailey as she dug into a typical Baltimore lunch: fried red snapper on thick white bread, with a side of french fries and a beer. The city's skyline is dotted with neon signs advertising Domino sugar, Utz potato chips and National Bohemian beer. And while many neighborhoods, such as Fells Point and Federal Hill, have been transformed by an influx of young professionals, a Friday night visit to either reveals a culture that revolves around drinking and greasy food. Nevertheless, Men's Fitness magazine placed Baltimore at the top of its annual list of cities where fitness is king, ahead of Honolulu (No. 2 for the second consecutive year), San Francisco (No. 7) and last year's winner, Seattle (No. 8). The fattest city in America for 2006 is Chicago, taking over the dubious honor from Houston. Last year, Baltimore was closer to Houston than it was to Honolulu, checking in as the 25th-fattest city in the Men's Fitness tally. How could such a turnaround be possible in the span of a year? Men's Fitness editor Neal Boulton is quick to point out that the survey is far from scientific, and he says it took additional factors into account this year that worked in Baltimore's favor. Among them: the amount of public park space, access to health care, air quality, the relatively small number of fast-food restaurants and the leadership of Mayor Martin O'Malley. Boulton says Baltimore has become safer, more prosperous and more conducive to fitness. "Baltimore is a paragon of urban renewal. That's why it's the fittest city, that's why it's the comeback city," he said. --- The fittest and fattest cities in America in the annual survey by Men's Fitness magazine, with cities in order of ranking, and 2005 rankings in parentheses. Some were on the opposite list: TOP 25 FITTEST CITIES: 1. Baltimore (25 fattest) 2. Honolulu (2) 3. Virginia Beach, Va. (12) 4. Tucson, Ariz. (8) 5. Milwaukee (15) 6. Colorado Springs, Colo. (3) 7. San Francisco (4) 8. Seattle (1) 9. Louisville-Jefferson, Ky. (not ranked) 10. Boston (11) 11. Sacramento, Calif. (7) 12. Nashville-Davidson, Tenn. (25) 13. Albuquerque (10) 14. Tulsa, Okla. (22 fattest) 15. Phoenix (12 fattest) 16. Atlanta (23 fattest) 17. Portland, Ore. (6) 18. Washington (23) 19. Oakland, Calif. (20) 20. Denver (5) 21. Minneapolis (13) 22. Arlington, Texas (22) 23. Austin, Texas (19) 24. Jacksonville, Fla. (18) 25. Omaha, Neb. (16) TOP 25 FATTEST CITIES: 1. Chicago (5) 2. Las Vegas (9) 3. Los Angeles (21 fittest) 4. Dallas (6) 5. Houston (1) 6. Memphis, Tenn. (4) 7. Long Beach, Calif. (20) 8. El Paso, Texas (11) 9. Kansas City, Mo. (18) 10. Mesa, Ariz. (15) 11. Indianapolis (13) 12. San Antonio (10) 13. Fort Worth, Texas (14) 14. Miami (19) 15. Detroit (3) 16. Columbus, Ohio (16) 17. Oklahoma City (21) 18. Cleveland (24 fittest) 19. Wichita, Kan. (17) 20. Charlotte, N.C. (24) 21. San Diego (9 fittest) 22. Fresno, Calif. (14 fittest) 23. Philadelphia (2) 24. San Jose, Calif. (17 fittest) 25. New York (8)
ahah is there was a list for canada i wonder where toronto wil be.. that'll be interesting since i'm canadian not american.. these stats aren't as interesting to me.
i think cities where they are alot of trees and wooded areas would be the fattest because all people do is use the car to get around
Well, I think I remember in the news a while back that they said that Vancouver was considered one of the fittest cities because it's temperature is always mild and nice -- and so people there can always go jogging or biking practically anytime of the year. You always see clips of people walking, biking, jogging, in the parks -- looks like a great, active city. Whereas, if you compared to colder cities such as Winnipeg, there, people have no option but to stay inside during the winter -- and so a higher chance of getting fatter. Although, this year's temperatures are nice and mild thanks to Vancouver and jet streams
The reason that San Francisco is alway in the top fit list is because there are so many asian in the bay area to counter the fatness of non-asians
I wonder how they measure which city is the fittest/fattest. Be interesting to see why the results differ from the previous year, and how the 25th fattest city of '05 suddenly became the #1 fittest by '06.
Fittest city is prob one where there is low heart disease / diabetes...ect. Diseases you get when you dont exercise and eat lots of food
Haha, the curse of having the most powerful economy in the world... It's strange, though, how some celebrities strive to look like they're living in third world nations though- why do people patronize thinness?
Definitely agree with wguan_86.... It's a sad reality of our society that we cannot change. We are fixated on appearance, and one's success is measured by appearance. I remember watching a 20/20 documentary a while back, and they did an experiment in which they had "3 average people" and "3 good-looking people" walk in for job applications/interviews. And it was proven that the good-looking get hired easier - probably because they are more "presentable". Picture yourself as an employer, say for a clothing store. Who would you rather hire, an individual who is overweight, or one that is fit? Who would boost your sales? Who would customers want to approach? Etc. Anyways, I hope this didn't offend anyone, it is simply a sad reality of human nature.
i dont think its such a sad thing... after all it takes effort to make yourself presentable, its a courtesy to be at your best at a job interview. Well i guess some take more effort than others hahahahah but no factor at a job interview would be absolutely fair to every applicant anyways
Our 25 fattest cities By percentage of population overweight 1 - St. Catharines 57.3 2 - Regina 56.5 3 - Saint John, N.B. 56.4 4 - Windsor 53.8 5 - London 53.6 6 - Charlottetown 52.7 7 - Saskatoon 51.9 8 - Winnipeg 51.8 9 - Fredericton 51.8 10 - St. John's 51.4 11 - Moncton 50.9 12 - Kitchener 50.8 13 - Trois-Rivieres 50.1 14 - Hamilton 48.5 15 - Oshawa 48.5 16 - Toronto 45.6 17 - Halifax 45.5 18 - Calgary 45.2 19 - Edmonton 44.6 20 - Ottawa-Hull 44.6 21 - Victoria 43.7 22 - Quebec City 43.6 23 - Montreal 40.3 24 - Vancouver 37.6 25 - Sherbrooke 32.2 Source: Statistics Canada National Population Health Survey 1998 HAHAHAHA go toronto!! only 16
Oh no.. Winnipeg is definitely letting itself go... Geez, what happened... It used to be something, back in the 70s... Soon we'll be like Regina and Saint John's... Nothing. It'll wither away. It had the potential to be like Calgary and Edmonton - currently two of our nation's hottest cities, in terms of growth and economy. But because of poor planning/jugdement from City politicians, that growth has stagnated (ex. How long has the population been hovering in the 600000s). No wonder everyone hates Winnipeg and doesn't come here to visit/vacation; it's depressing, boring, cold, and now, adding to that list is lots of overweight people - 51.8%, that's like 1 in 2 - which is soo true!! lol -ohmy
Wow, Calgary is in 18th place.... For the American cities, I thought that a lot more places in Texas would place in the 'fattest' cities because in the movie, 'supersize me', that guy was saying how about 7 cities in Texas were super fat or something....
all right!!! the bayarea is one of the fittest Places!!! Im from Oakland Ca, so Im kinda proud of the fact that I dont live with a bunch of obese people.
