America's 10 Fittest Cities—and 10 Least Fit, Too

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Chattanooga isn't fit? Hardly - even Josiah is fit here:) This is an active town and region. We may not all be in the gym but we're out and about. Perhaps Chattanooga has the lowest gym attendance. If so, this should be counted as an attribute. Get off the treadmill and get outside.

David of TN 10:19AM February 24, 2009

We're #1! We're #1! We're #1!
off to the gym...

Josiah Roe of TN 10:00AM February 24, 2009

I live in Chattanooga and it is one of the most active cities in the Southeast. Along with having hundreds of miles of trails used for mountain bikers, runners and hikers within a 10 mile radius of the city... The city has a growing population of outdoor enthusiasts with groups focusing in kayaking, rock climbing, hang-gliding, caving, cycling and white-water rafting... Downtown itself is home to an impresive 10-mile river walk that is contstantly used by roller bladers, runners, cyclists, etc.
Chattanooga is home to the Head of the Hooch Regatta, the 2nd largest regatta in the country, organizations such as Outdoor Chattanooga, the Chattanooga Bike Club and the Chattanooga Track Club with visits from the Tour de Georgia. The list goes on...
What the author of this post fails to mention here, is that CDC's statistics for CHATTANOOGA are actually based on their statistics for the "TN-GA Metropolitan area" which in their stats include SIX COUNTIES. Three of which aren't even in TN. The city of Chattanooga is dwarfed by the size of this area. Chattanooga covers about 145 sq mi area... While the area used for this list is around 2,138 sq mi.
Chattanooga is FAR FROM THE LEAST-FIT city... And even if the data indicates this region as being aggregately less-fit, Chattanooga stands alone.
Sorry for the long post, but I love Chattanooga and it's a very active little city.

Matt Davis of TN 6:31PM February 23, 2009

As I life long resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana I can say that this survey is pretty much dead on. One should not confuse being fit with the consumption of all the good food we have in this area. The lack of exercise can be attributed to a variety of factors. In my opinion it comes down to culture. It seems that most folks around here believe that exercise ends once you graduate from High School.
Pretty sad actually because in the end it will only cost the tax payers of this state more money. When welfare can be used to purchase junk food and soft drinks instead of the staples you end up with a majority of folks overweight. People that are overweight tend to suffer the most health problems and the state will be left holding the bill for the health care.
I alternate my cardio work between biking and running 6 days a week. I also do some strength training on the side. My wife is now getting more involved and we plan on running a 10K in New Orleans this spring.
Perhaps the health habits of a city are in line with the overall health of the community. If people are taking pride in themselves they would be more likely to take pride in where they live.

sawtooth of LA 1:43PM January 03, 2009

i like riding bikes

nick of LA 1:43PM December 16, 2008

Nah, Tim, none of the worst ten were in Texas.

of 11:57AM December 16, 2008

In the top ten cities the % getting regular exercise includes such activites:
1. keep moving to stave of freezing in place
2. shovelling snow
3. pushing car out of snow drift.
4. carrying in wood for fire (this does not include finding wood, cutting wood, splitting wood, stacking wood, carrying out ashes.
5. Yelling #$&%@-you at neighbors who complain about your carbon foot-print.
No exercise benefits are realized from sitting on butt and reading on-line magazines however.
The Great Pumpkin, Kansas.

Bruce Fair of 11:18AM December 16, 2008