Fattest and Leanest Cities in the U.S.

[InformationGeek]

I always find this list interesting.  Sadly and happily, none of the cities in my state have made the Top 10 of any of the lists, though Milwaukee ranks in at 34 for fatest.  Anyways, your thoughts on this list?  Are you living in any of these cities?

http://health.msn.com/weight-loss/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100257787&gt1=31036

[Flick James]

Heh heh. Texas has 5 cities in the top 10. EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas.

[Flick James]

HAH! Another little factoid. Texas has more WalMarts than any other state. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!!

[Rev. Powell]

51st fattest.  (That's me, not my hometown  ).

[Derf]

Living very near to Corpus Christi (I'm there almost every day), I can attest that it deserves its ranking. Just a few years ago, it was ranked #1 for teen pregnancies. I guess we've got a lot of chubby chasers around here. 

[retrorussell]

I'm not surprised Portland OR is in the top 10 for leanest.  Lots of walks for charity, and lots of cyclists.  Unfortunately, drivers aren't too thrilled with cyclists being all over the road.

[Flick James]

Also, it's very easy to hike for hours in Oregon. Just something about the climate.

[retrorussell]

Also, it's very easy to hike for hours in Oregon. Just something about the climate.

True.  You been there before Flick?
Also, there's plenty of rainfall to keep all the plants and trees round here happy and healthy and producing clean air.  Not many factories belching thick black smoke to ruin it either.  Portland is very ecologically-friendly.

[Trevor]

I don't know about 'fattest' and 'leanest' cities, but Pretoria can be a real dirty city sometimes. 

[Leah]

New Orleans, number 18. Well, I can see that, with more local foods over corporate foods.

[Flick James]

Also, it's very easy to hike for hours in Oregon. Just something about the climate.

True.  You been there before Flick?
Also, there's plenty of rainfall to keep all the plants and trees round here happy and healthy and producing clean air.  Not many factories belching thick black smoke to ruin it either.  Portland is very ecologically-friendly.

Sure. My old band in L.A. used to go on the road in the 90's up and down the coast and we played in Portland and Eugene a couple of times each. I love the pacific northwest in general.

[The Burgomaster]

I live just a few miles north of Boston, which came in at #52.  I would have though Boston would be in the top 20.  We have some fatties here.

[ulthar]

Methodology here makes no sense.

Assessing the number of people who are 'overweight' makes perfect sense for a 'fattest' or 'leanest' cities list.

However...

Money spent on fast food?  Times fast food eaten in a month?  Haven't left the couch in a month?

This is nonsensical crap.

True, there may SOME correlation between fast food consumption and being overweight, or couch-sitting and being over weight.  But that does NOT mean that you can simply rank the $$ spent on fast food or times eaten make from that "these are the fattest cities."

But I guess it's cute and all to publish "science" like this....   

[Rev. Powell]

Methodology here makes no sense.

Assessing the number of people who are 'overweight' makes perfect sense for a 'fattest' or 'leanest' cities list.

However...

Money spent on fast food?  Times fast food eaten in a month?  Haven't left the couch in a month?

This is nonsensical crap.

True, there may SOME correlation between fast food consumption and being overweight, or couch-sitting and being over weight.  But that does NOT mean that you can simply rank the $$ spent on fast food or times eaten make from that "these are the fattest cities."

But I guess it's cute and all to publish "science" like this....   

Yeah, it's not science, it's journalism.  "Men's Health" isn't a peer-reviewed journal.  To be fair I don't think that it's trying to position itself as a serious scientific study; it's really nothing more than a conversation starter.

[3mnkids]

The nearest major city to me would be St. Louis and it ranks 49(C) One big difference between living here and living in the south is how the schools push PE. Here it is every day, down there my kids had it once a week.