A Dietitian's View

But not all of the West is in top shape. Los Angeles is near the bottom of the list.
To rank big metropolitan areas, health and fitness experts analyzed government data from the 15 most populous cities in the country and Indianapolis, where the sports-medicine group is headquartered. They took into consideration a number of health indicators, including the percentage of people who exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, eat the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables, have access to health care, have health insurance and don't smoke. They also looked at the environment, including the availability of parks, walking/bike trails and public transportation.
The sports-medicine group's physical activity guidelines recommend that adult Americans, ages 18 to 65, do moderate-intensity aerobic activity (walking, dancing, biking) for at least 30 minutes five days each week and strength training at least twice a week for all their major muscle groups, including the chest, back, shoulders, upper legs, lower legs and arms. This could be strength training with free weights or machines or weight-bearing calisthenics such as pushups. It should be done on two non-consecutive days.
The aerobic activities should be done in at least 10-minute bouts, the group recommends. Short spurts of low-intensity movement — shopping, taking out the trash or walking a few minutes in the office or parking lot — don't count.
More information on the fit-city rankings is available at americanfitnessindex.org.