DC Is One Of America's Fittest Cities: Report

WASHINGTON, DC -- D.C. is the third fittest city in America, according to a new report from the American College of Sports Medicine -- which is actually a drop in the rankings for the District, although part of that is due to the list expanding this year.

ACSM has released their 2018 American Fitness Index rankings, which ranks America's 100 largest cities on their community fitness "using a methodology that includes a composite of health behaviors, chronic diseases, and community infrastructure," states the summary report accompanying the rankings. This is the first year that the rankings have included 100 cities. In the past, it ranked the top 50 metropolitan areas.

D.C. topped the list two years ago, and then Minneapolis bumped them to second last year. Now, thanks to more cities being added, we have a new fittest city in America, and it's right across the Potomac River: Arlington.

"This year, we want to congratulate Arlington, Virginia as the number one fittest city in the U.S. Arlington led Minneapolis and Washington D.C. in the top three in 2018," the report states.

Arlington achieved an impressive score of 77.7, edging out Minneapolis with 77.2. Washington, D.C. scored 74.0.

"After holding the title of 'America’s Fittest City' for three consecutive years, Washington, D.C. came in second to Minneapolis, MN in the 2017 American Fitness Index rankings," the report states. "VIDA Fitness, a D.C.-based fitness studio, partnered with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s #FITDC movement and D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation to launch the Take Back #1 Campaign. Through this community-wide effort to regain the top spot, VIDA and D.C. Parks Department offer a series of free workouts, walks and runs, nutrition seminars, and health expos to help D.C. residents jump-start and maintain their exercise programs. This private-public partnership is a great example of how to use the Fitness Index to rally a community to healthy action."

ACSM says that regular physical activity is one of the most important ways for people to both improve and maintain their health, and with obesity rates climbing to 40 percent of adults and obesity related medical costs exceeding $147 billion annually, it's important for cities to develop communities that encourage healthy behavior among residents.

ACSM says they used a rigorous methodology to determine their rankings.

"The 2018 Fitness Index was calculated using 33 indicators from reliable, publicly accessible, and up-to-date sources," the report states. "Indicators were combined to create sub-scores for personal health and community and environment indicators. Individual indicators were weighted relative to their impact on community fitness, converted to ranks, and combined in a straight-forward manner described in the methodology section on the website. The two sub-scores were then combined to form the total score."

Image via Arlington County