Fort Collins/Loveland and Boulder are the slimmest and among the healthiest metro areas in the nation, according to the current Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
The study reports that Fort Collins/Loveland's obesity rate of 16 percent is the lowest of any metro area in the country, but Boulder’s isn't much higher at 16.6 percent, making it the second lowest. Colorado Springs ranked fourth for having the least obese residents at 17.2 percent, and Denver/Aurora tied for 10th at 19.3 percent. Colorado and California had the most metro areas - four each - among the 10 least obese.
Gallup calculates Body Mass Index (BMI) results using respondents' self-reported height and weight. Americans with a BMI of 30 or above are considered obese. Gallup polled adults aged 18 and older in 187 metro areas in 2009.
America's 10 least obese metro areas boast an average obesity rate of 18.7 percent – 15.1 percentage points lower than that of the nation's 10 most obese places and significantly better than the national average.
Among the 10 least obese metro areas, Boulder stood out as it performed the best across the board on Gallup and Healthway's indexes measuring healthy behaviors, community conditions and physical health. Residents there are among the most likely in the country to get frequent exercise, and at 5 percent, are among the least likely of citizens in any of the 187 metro areas surveyed to have diabetes. To compare, the metro area with the highest level of reported diabetes is McAllen/Edinburg/Mission, Texas, at 18.9 percent. It is also worth noting that Boulder tops all U.S. metro areas in overall well-being.
Gallup sites healthy behaviors as the common denominator among residents of the 10 least obese metro areas, as nine of the 10 areas rank in the top third of the Gallup-Healthways Healthy Behavior Index, which measures exercise, eating and smoking habits. Majorities of residents in each of the 10 least obese places report that they ate healthy "yesterday," eat fruits and vegetables frequently, and exercise regularly. Half or more of residents in all of the least obese areas report exercising for at least 30 minutes three or more days per week. This stands in contrast to the nation's 10 most obese metro areas, where in all but one less than half report exercising at the same frequency. Smoking rates are also lower than the national average across all but one of the least obese areas.
Conditions within a community also play a major role in the number of obese residents. The Gallup-Healthways Basic Access Index finds that residents in almost all of the nation’s least obese metro areas report above-average levels of access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, having a safe place to exercise, having enough money to buy food and having health insurance.
All of the least obese metro areas in the U.S. have diabetes levels lower than the national average as well as fewer heart attacks – a result of eating healthier and exercising.
According to Gallup, Boulder and the nine other areas that accompany it as the nation's 10 least obese places can serve as examples from which other communities can learn. Still, even the 16 percent obesity rate in the least obese place in the country as recorded by Gallup today is slightly higher than the obesity levels reported by the government in the United States in the 1980s, suggesting that the country has a long way to go to reverse the enormous increase in obesity rates of the past 30 years.
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