Two Hoosier Cities on Fittest Communities List
(stock image courtesy: Pexels/Zhivkov Dimikrov)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe American College of Sports Medicine and the Anthem Foundation, both of which are headquartered in Indianapolis, are out with their list of America’s fittest cities, and two Indiana communities made the top 100 list. The organizations evaluated the nation’s largest cities based on 34 indicators, such as amount of exercise, food insecurity and hours of sleep.
As far as Hoosier cities, Fort Wayne comes in at No. 78 and Indianapolis is No. 96. Arlington, Virginia was named “America’s Fittest City. ACSM says Arlington received the No. 1 designation because it was ranked at the top of eight of the metrics.
“Beyond the health and wellness benefits of being a fit city, we know there are many economic advantages as well,” said Shantanu Agrawal, M.D., chief health officer, Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM) “Cities designed to encourage physical activity have enjoyed higher home values, business and job growth, and more robust retail activity — leading to overall improved social drivers of health for our communities.”
The organization say the fitness index offers research to city leaders to make decisions in policy, systems and environmental factors that could drive fitness in their communities.
“We encourage city leaders and planners to take bold action in driving improvements in their community, regardless of where they rank. There is always room to grow,” said Agrawal.
Rounding out the top 10 fittest cities are Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver, Madison, WI, Washington, D.C., St. Paul, MM, Irvine, CA, Portland, OR, and Atlanta. Click here to view the full list.