Arlington, Virginia, has been named America’s Fittest City in the annual American Fitness Index rankings for the fifth time. The list is published by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Elevance Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Elevance Health.
Mental health concerns were also reported as part of this year’s list with evidence showing that mental health was a concern in some of the top 10 fittest cities.
The ACSM/Elevance Health Foundation Fitness Index evaluated America’s 100 largest cities using 34 evidence-based indicators.
Arlington ranked first in six indicators and scored among the top 10 cities in 19 of the 34 categories. Arlington was ranked No. 1 in both the personal health and community/environment sub-scores.
All cities can be compared to Arlington or others ranked in the Fitness Index by accessing the online City Comparison Tool.
The top 10 fittest cities are:
1. Arlington, Virginia
2. Madison, Wisconsin
3. Minneapolis, Minnesota
4. Washington, D.C.
5. Seattle, Washington
6. Irvine, California
7. Portland, Oregon
8. St. Paul, Minnesota
9. Denver, Colorado
10. Chicago, Illinois
This is the first time that Chicago made the top 10.
“Congratulations to those city leaders and planners who led efforts to develop parks and playgrounds, build bike paths and safe streets, and offer a built environment that encourages physical activity,” said Shantanu Agrawal, M.D., chief health officer of Elevance Health. “As we entered another year of the pandemic, health disparities in our communities continued to be an issue, which only encourages us to tackle health equity head on. We were also faced with another year of loss, sickness and isolation, resulting in the need for improved mental health. As we start to return to our previous routines, we need to underscore the significant mental and physical health benefits that exercise has in our lives.”
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, ranked last on the list. The cities filling out the bottom of the list were:
90. Riverside, CA
91. Detroit, MI
92. Lexington, KY
93. Henderson, NV
94. Memphis, TN
95. Las Vegas, NV
96. Louisville, KY
97. Indianapolis, IN
98. Tulsa, OK
99. North Las Vegas, NV
100. Oklahoma City, OK
Mental Health Concerns
As mental health concerns grow across the nation, this year’s Fitness Index provides statistical evidence regarding the problem’s scope. On average, 39.6 percent of residents in the Fitness Index cities reported poor mental health. Nearly 58 percent of adults in the United States. perceive a pandemic-related negative effect on emotional or mental health.
Cities reporting the highest rates of poor mental health (listed from highest to lowest) include New Orleans, Louisiana; Laredo, Texas; San Francisco, California; Washington, D.C.; San Jose, California; Madison, Wisconsin; Lubbock, Texas; Stockton, California; Riverside, California; and Cincinnati, Ohio.
“The Fitness Index Advisory Board hypothesized that poor mental health issues might be a significant factor because the pandemic disrupted every phase of our lives, some more than others,” said Stella Volpe, Ph.D., R.D.N., ACSM-CEP, FACSM, chair of the American Fitness Index Advisory Board. “Our decision to hone in on this important factor was accurate. We found that cities ranked in the top 25 tended to score well in personal health indicators; however, there was one exception – mental health. Four cities in the top 25 also ranked among the cities with the poorest mental health.”
Research also has shown physical activity — both aerobic and strength training — to be effective in preventing and reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, improving mood and self-esteem, and improving quality of sleep.
ACSM and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, about 22 minutes per day. They also recommend muscle strengthening activity twice per week. Volpe said 22.4 percent of adults in the Fitness Index cities reported no exercise in the previous month, and only 50.9 percent met the aerobic activity guidelines, while an even smaller percentage (23.8 percent) met the guidelines for both aerobic and strength activities.
“Increases in physical activity are likely to help reduce the mental health burden,” said Volpe. “This underscores the need for local community leaders to step up and make bold spending choices, policy decisions and infrastructure changes to increase opportunities for residents to be physically active and healthy. Local community actions that change personal behaviors also reduce obesity rates, incidence of chronic disease and stress. ACSM and the Elevance Health Foundation now implement year-round education and outreach activities around the Fitness Index results to help identify needs in each city and contribute to potential solutions.”
The Fitness Index rankings found that cities ranking No. 1 for meeting exercise indicators included Arlington, Virginia, for exercising in the previous month; St. Petersburg, Florida, for meeting aerobic activity guidelines; and Anaheim, Irvine, and Santa Ana, California, tied for meeting aerobic and strength activity guidelines.
The index also found an increase in the percentage of Americans exercising in the previous month (77.6 percent); sleeping more than seven hours per day (68 percent); and reporting excellent /very good health (55.9 percent), since last year’s Fitness Index.
Now in its 15th year, the Fitness Index offers city leaders research to make potentially life-changing decisions in policy, systems and environmental change strategies that drive fitness and health improvements in their communities.
Full rankings and scores, a summary report, city comparison tool and other insights are accessible on the Fitness Index website.