Barnstable No. 2 In U.S. For Healthy Eating: Gallup Poll

BARNSTABLE, MA — Pass the vegetables — Barnstable this month was ranked among the best places in the country for healthy eating. Barnstable was listed second on the Gallup-Sharecare "State of American Well-Being" healthy eating index. Naples, Florida was ranked No. 1.

Other Massachusetts communities that made the top 100 included Boston (No. 42), Springfield (No. 62) and Worcester (No. 81). The survey was based on 354,473 telephone interviews conducted in 2015 and 2016, according to Gallup.

"Communities around the country are taking an active approach to population health by implementing food policies that foster healthy eating," the survey reported. "Best practices include making fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible through farmers markets, community gardens, and grocery stores. Other strategies include eliminating food deserts, educating citizens on healthy ingredients and portion sizes, and positioning unhealthy options less prominently in government facilities, schools, worksites, grocery stores
and restaurants."

The report continued, "When implemented successfully, these policies help lower the rates of obesity and the prevalence of other chronic conditions across populations."

Communities like Barnstable at the top of the survey "coordinate efforts across multiple stakeholders to include schools, employers, hospitals, restaurants, grocers, faith-based organizations, and city government."

In top-ranked Naples, NCH Healthcare System officials implemented several measures to promote healthy eating, including removing sugar-sweetened beverages from hospital grounds, adding a farmers market, and replacing cafeteria checkout-area sweets with fruits.

"We look at better health and well-being not only as our mission, but as our promise to those we serve," said Alan Weiss, NCH Healthcare System president, in a statement. "Improving the foods we serve in our cafeteria, eliminating sugar-based beverages from our campuses, and working with local producers to have onsite farmers markets ... each action like this reinforces that healthy doesn’t have to be hard."

State of American Well-Being: Healthy Eating Rankings

1. Naples, Florida
2. Barnstable, Massachusetts
3. Santa Cruz, California
4. Salinas, California
5. McAllen, Texas
6. Santa Rosa, California
7. Hilton Head, South Carolina
8. San Luis Obispo, California
9. Kingman, Arizona
10. El Paso, Texas

These communities also made the top 100:

• 32. Portland, Maine
• 34. Burlington, Vermont
• 35. Providence, Rhode Island
• 42. Boston, Massachusetts
• 62. Springfield, Massachusetts
• 81. Worcester, Massachusetts

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