Twin Cities Ranks 2nd In Annual Fit City Index

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The American College of Sports Medicine released its Fit City Index on Wednesday and once again the Twin Cities is among the most fit regions in the country.

But it's not at the top spot in the seventh annual survey. The report shows of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country, Minneapolis/St. Paul came in at No. 2 nationally with 73.5 out of a possible 100 points. Only Washington D.C. is considered more fit as it had a score of 77.3 out of a possible 100.

Portland, Ore., Denver, Colo. And San Francisco, Calif., rounded out the top five metropolitan areas in the index. The next closest metro are in the five-state region was Milwaukee, Wis., which was 32nd at 45.7. Chicago was 15th with a score of 56.6.

The Twin Cities area was the No. 1 overall city in 2013.

The index looks at health behaviors, chronic health problems, the environment and recreational facilities as its main criteria for putting together the scores for each metro area. Within those categories includes physical activity, diet, access to park lands, farmer's markets, bike paths and using public transportation. There's also the number of golf courses, dog parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, tennis courts and other recreational facilities that account for the basis of physical activity.

The index also factors in the money metro areas allocate to facilitate and maintain the things that promote healthy living and physical activity.