According to a new program and report by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in Indianapolis, in conjunction with the WellPoint Foundation, Phoenix ranks 11th in terms of fitness, among the nation’s 15 most populous cities, plus Indianapolis.

According to an ASU press release, “Citizens in the Valley of the Sun have lower than average rates for chronic health diseases and a lower obesity rate. An above average number of the local population exercised in the last 30 days, but only 53.6 percent reported being physically active regularly at least at moderate intensity. Only 23 percent of its citizens eat five or more fruits and vegetables per day. Phoenix invested on average with its peer cities on park-related expenditures, yet it scored lower than average on recreational facilities and creating an environment conducive to physical activity.”

So that explains a lot – Phoenicians are out on the golf course exercising more than the rest of the nation, but not intensively.   Maybe if fewer people rented golf carts or used caddies that would help?  (But wait, I hear you say – it’s 115 degrees outside!)

San Francisco, in contrast, came out on top, while Detroit scored the bottom slot.  Here’s the list:

San Francisco, CA

Seattle, WA

Boston, MA

Washington D.C.

Atlanta, GA

Philadelphia, PA

Chicago, IL

Dallas, TX

New York, NY

Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Phoenix, AZ

Indianapolis, IN

Houston, TX

Los Angeles, CA

Riverside, CA

Detroit, MI

According to the report, our strengths included:

Younger median age of residents

Fewer older housing units

More exercised in the past 30 days

More exercise at least at a moderate level

Lower obesity rate

Lower cardiovascular death rate

Lower diabetes death rate

More acres of parkland per capita

But they were, apparently, overwhelmed by our weaknesses, including:

Smaller percentage employed

Fewer eat 5+ servings of fruit and vegetables per day

Fewer in excellent or very good health status

Higher rate of asthma

Higher rate of diabetes

Lower percent of residents covered by health insurance

Fewer farmers’ markets per capita

Fewer use public transportation to get to work

Fewer ball diamonds per capita

Fewer dog parks per capita

Fewer playgrounds per capita

Fewer park units per capita

Fewer recreation centers per capita

Fewer tennis courts per capita

Fewer primary care providers per capita

So, it seems like the path to better health is relatively simple: eat more fruits and veggies (preferably purchased at new farmers’ markets); build more dog parks, playgrounds, neighborhood baseball diamonds and tennis courts; get the light rail up and running (and people riding it!); and employ more doctors.  Should be a cinch.

What do you think?