Fat in the USA: never before have so many numbers been crunched in the name of obesity - and so few abs - The 6th Annual Report America's Fattest Cities 2004

Keith Griffiths

YOU'D NEVER BRAG ABOUT LIVING IN CHERNOBYL. IT'S A conversation killer. The stigma of a reactor meltdown--and the creepiness of genetic mutations--is just hard to shake. Even 18 years later. But the truth is, there are plenty of places right here in the U.S. that are more dangerous in 2004. We call them America's Fattest Cities. * Of course, maybe you think residual nuclear radiation sounds like more of a threat to your life than fat. But take your age. Then add 30 years. That's the effect obesity has on your health, according to a recent UCLA study. * And that's why we're naming names and placing blame in our sixth-annual 50-city report. This year's Champion of Chub: Detroit. Baseball's biggest loser is now the fattest of the fat. But it had plenty of competition: Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Chicago followed closely to round out the Flab Five. (Note to Texans: Bigger isn't always better.)

The Fattest City:

DETROIT

THE MOTOR CITY FINALLY ROLLED over last year's heavyweight champ, Houston, to become the epicenter of the nation's obesity problem. The standards that have kept Detroit high on our list for years--cold climate, poor air quality, inadequate access to health care--were compounded by a jump in TV viewing, a worsening commute time, and a scarcity of gyms. (Detroit has the lowest number of health clubs per capita in the country, with only three per 100,000 residents.) The combined result: Detroit's Harper Hospital is now turning a profit by stapling stomachs at an unprecedented 10 surgeries a week. So they need a plan. We'd offer to help, but a spokesperson for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick told us that Detroit wasn't "interested in participating in this story."

The Fittest City:

HONOLULU

TWO YEARS RUNNING, HONOLULU

is America's Fittest City. Besides a fitness-friendly climate, the area has 485 beach and inland parks and more public basketball courts than any city in our survey. And they eat right. "Most of our citizens eat a Japanese diet consisting of vegetables, rice, and lean cuts of beef and sushi," says Mayor Jeremy Harris. A statewide health campaign has movie theaters showing spots that promote fitness. The one downside: These numbers apply to adults only. Exercise researchers at the University of Hawaii reported that the incidence of obesity in Hawaii's kids (a category not included in our survey) is about twice mainland levels. But they're on it: A move by the municipal school board to decrease phys-ed requirements in public schools was met with a tsunami of resistance. "Sedentary doesn't fit Honolulu's people. They live outdoors and enjoy all their city has to offer. It's harder to do this in cities like Detroit in the wintertime," says Harris.

The Most Improved:

CHARLOTTE

WHEN MEN'S FITNESS NAMED Charlotte the 10th-fattest city in America last year, Mayor Patrick McCrory totally disagreed with the ranking--and encouraged citizens to prove us wrong. They did. In one year, Charlotte moved 19 slots, shaping up to become the country's 22nd-fittest city. How'd they do it? The mayor added sidewalks and bike paths to make Charlotte a more pedestrian city, while expanding the healthy-eating program in the school system and area restaurants. His newest project: The Fit City Challenge (fitcitychallenge.org), an interactive online program with the goal of encouraging 50,000 residents to walk five miles a week and eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

The Biggest Gainers:

MEMPHIS, OKLAHOMA CITY, FORT WORTH

THESE THREE CITIES ALL MOVED 10 spots in the wrong direction, with Memphis backsliding from fit to fat (21st fittest in 2003; 20th fattest in 2004), and Oklahoma City (23rd to 13th) and Fort Worth (16th to sixth) going from fat to fatter. "They should all take the Fit City Challenge," says D.C. Lucchesi, spokesperson for the Mecklenburg County Health Department in Charlotte. (Too bad he's not running the show in his hometown of Memphis.) "Charlotte will take on any city, whether on the fittest or the fattest list."

The City That Bats the Moll Junk Food:

CLEVELAND

NO CITY PACKS IN MORE FAST-FOOD joints, donut shops, pizza places, and ice cream parlors per capita than the ninth-fattest city of 2004. If you think it's a leap to conclude that Clevelanders are guilty of actually eating it all, consider it in terms of simple economics: Businesses exist to fulfill a demand--or they go broke. And the junk-food biz is booming in C-Town.

* If you're going to eat it anyway: Take off the bun, skip the fries, and go with diet soda. Almost everything else in a fast-food restaurant is fair game. That's right, eliminate the carbs and eat the fat.

The reason: Fast food typically combines foods that are high in fat with foods that are high in the type of carbs that are quickly converted to sugar. That sugar stimulates the release of insulin, a hormone that tells your body to store the fat that you just ate. Remove insulin from the equation, and you're more likely to use the fat as energy. A recent study in the Journal of Nutrition found that guys who cut their carb intake to 8% of total calories (they ate 61% of calories from fat) lost seven pounds of fat and gained two pounds of muscle in six weeks. The researchers calculated that lower insulin levels accounted for about 70% of the fat loss. (There was no increase in risk for cardiovascular disease.)

The City That Watches the Most TV:

NEW ORLEANS

APPARENTLY, THE PEOPLE OF NEW ORLEANS have one vice--and it's not any of the ones you'd expect. They watch more television than any other city in our survey, according to Nielsen Media Research. Despite scoring high in air quality and climate, they'd rather spend their time inside than out. (That explains the Superdome.) But even so, we can't be too hard on the Big Easy: They've managed to climb from 11th place on last year's fattest list to the 22nd position in 2004. Maybe some of that TV-time is spent on treadmills.

* If TV rules your life: Cut out reruns--even if there's an A-Team episode you've never seen. If you don't watch shows that have run before, you'll automatically slash your viewing time in half. (At least.)

City That Watches the Least TV: MINNEAPOLIS "THERE'S TOO MUCH TO DO HERE THAN SIT AROUND and watch TV. Our citizens love to run, bike, swim, row, and kayak on the central Mississippi river front and our 22 lakes," says Mayor R.T. Rybak. Wait, isn't New Orleans on the Mississippi, too?

The Laziest City: MEMPHIS IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT MEMPHIS CLAIMS this title, considering it's the winner of our Biggest Gainer award. In a survey of the number of times Americans exercised in the previous 30 days, Tennesseans answered "none" more often than the residents of any other place on our survey. Of course, it's possible they just had an "off" month. So we contacted the mayor's office to get his take. He didn't call us back. Maybe laziness is just city policy.

* If you're lazy: Lift weights for 10 minutes a day, three days a week. A 2003 study at Harvard University of nearly 17,000 men found that 30 minutes of weight training per week had a greater reduction on waist size over a nine-year period than any other variable--including walking and fiber consumption.

The City With the Worst Eating Habits: CHICAGO

NO BIG SURPRISE, COMING FROM a city known for its calorie-laden hot dogs, chili, and stuffed pizza. Illinois ranks dead last in consumption of fruits and vegetables. "The city's poor eating habits are a problem we are well aware of," says John Wilhelm, Chicago's commissioner of public health. "We have a number of community-based initiatives in place to try and improve the health of the city, including the quality of people's diets, but it's a problem that takes time to fix," he says. "Maybe even generations." Great news for the Chicago of 2050, but not so great for today's Windy City residents. But at least they're trying, Detroit.

* If you eat like a Chicagoan: Cut the number of times you eat out each week in half. That's the major nutritional land mine for most guys. And when you do dine out, kick off your meals with a salad. Researchers at Penn State found that reduces total calorie intake by 12%. A handful of peanuts, a small protein shake, or a shot of a high-fiber supplement (we like Benefiber) should work, too.

The City With the Best Eating Habits: MIAMI

THE REASONS ARE SIMPLE: AN abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, a readily available supply of high-fiber, high-protein Cuban cuisine, and most important, guy-motivation--in the form of South Beach bikini models. "Many of our culturally-diverse residents adhere to traditions of eating at home, where they have greater control of their food," says Mayor Alex Penelas.

The Least-Athletic City:

ATLANTA

IT SEEMS HOTLANTANS WOULD rather watch baseball than play it. Cable TV--equipped households clocked in at an average of 84 hours of viewing a week, while the city's participation in recreational sports ranks as the lowest in our survey. Local I networks CNN and TBS would call those "killer" stats. So would we. If those numbers don't start to reverse, call it the Home of the Graves.

* If you're not athletic: Hit the adult-kickball circuit. With 8,500 participants in 31 states, it's the hottest new club sport in the country. The game's kicking around nationwide because it's safe, cheap, and not athletically demanding. But it burns calories and it's highly social--official leagues require four females per team. Go to worldkickball.com to find information on an adult-kickball team near you.

The Most-Athletic City:

MINNEAPOLIS

"YOU GO TO ATLANTA, YOU SEE 14-lane highways ... here you'll see 50 miles of dedicated bike trails. We put our money where our cardiovascular systems are," says Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak.

The City That Drinks the Most:

LAS VEGAS

ALL THE DRINKS FLOWING IN VEGAS are enough to push consumption of alcohol in Nevada to the highest level of any state--just over four gallons of pure ethanol per person. A lot of that booze is being swilled by tourists, but with "free" drinks offered all over town, the locals get their fair share as well.

* If you drink more than you should: Cut some alcohol from your diet without drinking less. Make your first drink of the night either water or diet soda. Down it fast--your goal is to quench your thirst. (You drink more when you're dry.) Then repeat after each alcoholic drink. Also, avoid community pitchers. And try frozen drinks. They have to be sipped, which forces you to drink slowly, cutting down your intake.

The City That Drinks the Least:

NEW YORK CITY

IF YOU NEEDED A MORTGAGE every time you went drinking--$12 for a Captain and Coke!--you'd cut back, too.

How we did it: The 50-largest cities were assessed in the following 14 categories: (1) number of health clubs and sporting-goods stores per 100,000; (2) frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption equally weighed with availability of health food; (3) participation in 103 sports- and fitness-related activities; (4) CDC statewide statistics for obesity, sedentary behavior, and the health-related risks for each; (5) total number of fast-food and pizza restaurants, and ice cream and doughnut shops per 100,000; (6) total number of bars and taverns per 100,000 equally weighed with state alcohol consumption; (7) television viewing trends; (8) air quality; (9) climate; (10) geography; (11) commute times; (12) number of parks equally weighed with open space and recreation acreage per capita; (13) number of public basketball and tennis courts, golf courses, and swimming pools per capita; and (14) availability of health care.

The categories were selected as indicators, risk factors, or relevant environmental factors affecting fitness, obesity, and health.

The cities were then ranked first to last and assigned numerical grades based on a relative curve. For a complete explanation of our statistical analysis, and individual category scores for each city, go to mensfitness.com.

Rick Minerd, Jake Knight, Brian Good, Sean Hyson, Nate Millado, and Les Shu contributed to this article.

"I think your size has a lot to do with your zip code," says JEFF LUCIA, co-author of "America's Fattest Cities 2004" (page 76). "It always strikes me how people in some cities seem heavier than in others." Lucia, former executive editor of this magazine, is a principal at KGB Media, an Encinitas, Calif.-based research and marketing firm specializing in health and public safety. "We looked at hard numbers and scientific surveys, but we also address the real-world factors that people face every day--like commutes, climate, and air quality, and places to get out and be active." Lucia stays active by hiking with his family in the Santa Monica Mountains near his home.

Top 25 Fittest

2004 RANKING                  LAST YEAR

1. Honolulu =                     1
2. San Francisco (a)              3
3. Virginia Beach (a)             8
4. Denver (a)                     7
5. Colorado Springs (b)           4
6. Seattle (b)                    2
7. Boston (a)                    12
8. Portland (b)                   6
9. Tucson =                       9
10. Sacramento =                 10
11. Omaha (a)                    14
12. Albuquerque (a)              17
13. Jacksonville (a)             18
14. San Diego (b)                 5
15. Fresno (a)                   24
16. Wichita =                    16
17. Oakland (b)                  15
18. Minneapolis (b)              11
19. Austin (b)                   13
20. San Jose (b)                 19
21. Milwaukee (a)                21 *
22. Charlotte (a)                10 *
23. Long Beach (b)               20
24. Nashville (b)                23
25. Los Angeles (b)              22

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* Ranking in the top 25 fattest cities in 2003

Top 25 Fattest

2004 RANKING            LAST YEAR

1. Detroit (a)              3
2. Houston (b)              1
3. Dallas (a)               9
4. San Antonio (a)         13
5. Chicago (b)              2
6. Fort Worth (a)          16
7. Philadelphia (b)         4
8. Arlington (a)           NR
9. Cleveland (b)            6
10. Columbus (b)            8
11. Atlanta (b)             7
12. Mesa (a)               19
13. Oklahoma City (a)      23
14. Kansas City (a)        22
15. Miami (a)              24
16. Las Vegas (a)          18
17. Indianapolis (b)       12
18. Phoenix (b)            14
19. Tulsa (b)              25 *
20. Memphis (b)            21 *
21. New York (b)           15
22. New Orleans (b)        11
23. Baltimore (b)          20
24. El Paso (b)            17
25. Washington =           25

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* Ranking in the top 25 fittest cities in 2003

COPYRIGHT 2004 Weider Publications
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