Tag: Physical Activity

Spotlight on San Jose: Health and Fitness in Silicon Valley

Today’s post takes a look at the metropolitan statistical area of San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara in California. The area is often called Silicon Valley thanks to being the headquarters of tech giants such as Apple, Cisco Systems, eBay, Facebook, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Google, Sun Microsystems and Yahoo!.

Silicon Valley ranked 11th in the most recent ACSM American Fitness Index® () data report, which evaluates the 50 most populous city areas and identifies the healthiest and fittest places in the United States. The metro area earned a score of 65.2 (out of 100 possible points) in 2011, moving up from a rank of 14th and a score of 61.0 in 2010.

People take their personal health seriously in the booming metro areas south of San Francisco. The area ranked 3rd on personal health indicators related to health behaviors, chronic health problems and health care.

Silicon Valley has the lowest percentage of smokers (8.8%) among the 50 metro areas included in the data report. And residents of this region are good at getting their fruits and veggies – 29.3% reported eating 5+ servings of fruits/vegetables per day. The percentage of residents with chronic health concerns is relatively low, including a metro-area low of only 4.5% residents having asthma. Almost 92% of residents have health insurance.

The area ranked 24th on community/environmental indicators related to the built environment, recreational facilities, park-related expenditures, physical education requirements and primary health care providers.

Despite its average scores on built environment indicators, the area has witnessed a propensity toward Smart Growth planning principles. Walk Score recently ranked San Jose as the 19th most walkable of the 50 largest U.S. cities.

For a complete list of the Silicon Valley’s strengths and challenges, plus a breakdown of the components that helped make up its score, please visit the website and download the San Jose report at www.americanfitnessindex.org/report.htm.

San Jose Skyline

Spotlight on Minneapolis/St. Paul

Earlier this year, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) released the annual ACSM American Fitness Index® () data report. This report evaluates the 50 most populous city areas and identifies the healthiest and fittest places in the United States.

For the first time, the metropolitan statistical area of Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington edged out previous leader Washington, D.C. for the top spot with a score of 77.2 (out of 100 possible points). The metro area ranked 3rd with a score of 71.7 in 2010.

Minneapolis-St. Paul took the lead thanks to greater improvements in healthy behavior measures and a reduction in the percentage of smokers. The Twin Cities ranked 2nd on personal health indicators related to health behaviors, chronic health problems and health care. The area ranked 2nd on community/environmental indicators related to the built environment, recreational facilities, park-related expenditures, physical education requirements and primary health care providers.

Several factors contributed to the Twin Cities’ top ranking. The area has the highest percentage of residents who report getting physical activity or exercise in the last 30 days (85.9%) and relatively low smoking rate (15.3%). In the Twin Cities, the percentage of residents with chronic health concerns such as obesity, asthma, cardiovascular disease and diabetes is moderate-to-low. Another factor is that 92.9% of residents have health insurance.

While the area reduced park-related expenditures this year ($203 per capita), its percentage of parkland is still above average (16.7%), as is the percentage of recreational facilities (other than swimming pools). Farmers markets in the area also increased this year, indicating a trend in healthier eating.

In a future blog post, we’ll look at some of the programs, attractions and projects that are working to keep the Twin Cities in the top spot. For a complete list of the Twin Cities’ strengths and challenges, plus a breakdown of the components that helped make up its score, please visit the website and download the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area report.

From the Field with Dominique Ennis

Dominique Ennis, of UNC Asheville Campus Recreation, talks about the state of health and fitness in of Asheville, N.C. Ennis notes that there are many opportunities for physical activity in the Asheville area that are not measured within the data report. The opportunities include outdoor adventure pursuits, such as hiking, rock climbing and mountain biking.

Ennis is involved with Project ASSIST Tobacco Prevention Coalition and Healthy Buncombe, an organization dedicated to helping people get active and eat well.

From the Field with NiCole Keith, PhD, FACSM

NiCole Keith, PhD, FACSM, discusses the state of health and fitness in Indianapolis. Dr. Keith gives particular attention to the role of public transportation on health and fitness and a built environment that encourages physical activity. Indianapolis ranked 44th in the 2010 data report.

Dr. Keith is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI) and an affiliated research scientist in the Indiana University Center for Aging Research at Regenstrief Institute.

From the Field with Dr. Chad Asplund

Chad Asplund, MD, FACSM, comments on the state of health and fitness in Columbus, OH. Dr. Asplund, a family physician and competitive cyclist, says the city is striving to be a more bike-friendly community. Columbus ranked 35th in the 2010 data report. As a physician, Asplund advises his patients that exercise is good medicine.

Read more about Dr. Asplund.

From the Field with Stella Volpe, PhD, FACSM

Stella Volpe, PhD, FACSM, talks about the state of health and fitness in Philadelphia. Dr. Volpe says Philadelphia is not as active of a city as it could be. Philadelphia ranked 23d in the 2010 data report and has one of the highest obesity rates in the country.

Dr. Volpe shares some findings from a study on the top barriers to physical activity among Philadelphia residents. She also mentions the problems with “supermarket deserts.”

Dr. Volpe, a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, is a nutritionist and exercise physiologist whose work on obesity prevention, body composition, bone mineral density, and mineral metabolism and exercise represent a ten-year track record of consistent funding.

Dr. Volpe is a core member of the Biobehavioral Research Center, an associated faculty member of the Center for Health Disparities in the School of Nursing, an associate scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, an associate faculty member in the Graduate Program in Public Health, a co-director in Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research on Health Disparities, and Training (EXPORT), and a member of the Penn Diabetes Center, all in the School of Medicine. She is also a faculty associate in the Penn Institute for Urban Research, an interdisciplinary Center at Penn, and a senior fellow in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at Penn.

Dr. Volpe’s research revolves around the effects of the environment on obesity – both how the environment can be changed to prevent obesity, and how the environment has resulted in a more obese nation and world. Her interventions include changing portion sizes in cafeterias and making physical activity more a part of a person’s day to implement changes in behavior. She has also conducted a number of studies on mineral metabolism and how it affects exercise, thyroid hormone function, bone mineral density, and body weight. Dr. Volpe is a faculty member of the Physiology of the Body Compartment Fellowship Program in the Department of Neuroscience, Human Nutrition and Food at the Universita Degli Studi “Tor Vergata”, Roma, Italia.

From the Field with Dr. Roseann Lyle

In this edition of From the Field, Advisory Board Member Roseann Lyle, PhD, FACSM, comments on what makes the ACSM American Fitness Index data report a unique measure of health and community fitness.

Dr. Lyle emphasizes the importance for communities to create an environment that makes it easier for people to make healthy choices. She also notes the interdependence of public transportation, healthy eating habits, regular physical activity, and policies that discourage smoking on community health.

Lyle also shares information about an initiative in her community, Healthy Active Tippecanoe, aimed at improving the health and quality of life for people living in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.

Lyle is a professor of public health at the Purdue University Department of Health and Kinesiology. She serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity and is a member of the Active Aging Partnership, which directs ongoing initiatives of the Blueprint for Increasing Activity among Adults over 50.

From the Field with Dot Fullwood

M. “Dot” Fullwood talks about the state of health and fitness in the San Francisco/Bay area, which ranked 8th in the 2010 ACSM American Fitness Index.

Fullwood, a graduate student at the Health Equity Institute at San Francisco State University, touches on efforts to improve physical activity in the Bay area and the need to change perceptions about physical activity across different socio-economic groups.

Fullwood is active in the Sunday Streets San Francisco program. Sunday Streets offers free and fun physical activity space to all San Franciscans and provides open space in neighborhoods that lack such space currently. Local businesses also benefit from increased pedestrian and bicycle traffic along commercial corridors. The events provide a model of how cities can provide healthy, environmental friendly outdoor activities for their residents. Check out Sunday Streets San Francisco on Facebook and Twitter.

From the Field with Sarah Pedersen

Sarah Pedersen talks about what makes Boston a physically active city in this episode of From the Field. Boston ranked 2nd in the 2010 ACSM American Fitness Index data report.

Sarah also talks about some programs in near Tufts University aimed at improving health and community fitness. Sarah is a PhD student in International Nutrition at Cornell University.