When you look into the mirror every morning, what do you see?
A fit hunk'a burnin' love? A smokin' hot bod that will knock 'em dead at the gym?
Well you should, according to the latest edition of the American Fitness Index.
The 2009 rankings have been released, and the D.C. metro area is the fittest of America's 50 most populous metropolitan areas.
The American College of Sports Medicine gives D.C. an overall score of 74.4, putting it at the top of the list. Coming in at No. 2 is Minneapolis-St. Paul with a 72.1. The top five is rounded out by Denver (71.6), Boston (71.4) and San Francisco (71.3).
The bottom five are kind of tricky, as five areas didn't get a ranking due to lack of community or environmental data.
But of those areas where data was available, Oklahoma City ranked the worst with a 23.2 rating. That was way below the next lowest, Detroit, which came in at 30.5.
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So why did D.C. rank so high? Apparently because we scored above-average on the percentage of people who eat five or more fruits and veggies a day (thanks, Mom!) and because we have a low percentage of smokers (thanks smoking bans!).
We also ranked high in percentage of city land area for parks, more rec centers, tennis courts and swimming pools and more use of public transportation and/or biking and walking to work.
Where could we improve? The AFI said we need more dog parks (hear that city council?) and more golf courses (Tiger, we're looking in your direction...).
Elsewhere in the region, Virginia Beach ranked No. 10, Baltimore No. 19 and Richmond came in with no rating.
1. Washington, D.C. 74.4
2. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. 72.1
3. Denver, Colo. 71.6
4. Boston, Mass. 71.4
5. San Francisco, Calif. 71.3
6. Seattle, Wash. 69.7
7. Portland, Ore. 68.1
8. San Diego, Calif. 66.8
9. Austin, Texas 65.1
10. Virginia Beach, Va. 63.1
Click here for the complete rankings.
