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Where you live has an undeniable impact on your overall health. Lack of access to spaces for physical activity, healthy food choices, and health care options often plague those that live in low-income neighborhoods. This includes many Latino families.
This confluence of conditions often lead to residents becoming overweight and/or obese and suffering from diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and heart disease.
In recent years, cities – often finding governments working with residents – have begun exploring ways to make cities healthier. This has included improving access to repairing sidewalks, adopting shared use agreements, and creating physical activity opportunities in public spaces.
All of these efforts have not gone unnoticed. The fitness tracking application, Fit Bit, has recently compiled a list of the “fittest cities” in the United States.
Researchers looked at data from over 10 million Fitbit users nationwide, taking into account the following metrics: duration of sleep per night, daily “Reminders to Move” goals met, daily steps, daily active minutes, and resting heart rate.
What is the fittest city in the US?
The title of overall Fittest City in America was determined by the average rates for duration of sleep, Reminders to Move goals met, daily steps, daily active minutes, and resting heart rate.
Cities in the Midwestern part of the country fared extremely well, as Duluth, MN (1.87% Latino population), was crowned the fittest city in the country. Wisconsin (6.35% Latino population) also was well represented with Appleton, Eau Claire, and last year’s number one city, Madison, all ranking in the top 10.
Rounding out the top five were Boulder, CO (8.61% Latino population) and Bellingham, WA (8.08% Latino population).
Eau Claire (2.4% Latino population) earned the top spot for averaging the most sleep, averaging over 7 hours a night. Appleton (5.77% Latino population) earned the top spot for having the most daily steps, as residents averaged 8,208 per day. Boulder (8.61% Latino population) residents were the most “movers,” as they average 21.8 minutes a day spent active.
Read more about this story here.
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By The Numbers
25.1
percent
of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage