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America's Fittest Cities: Gallup Calculates The Nation's Obesity Rate (PHOTOS)

First Posted: 05/15/10 06:12 AM ET   Updated: 05/25/11 04:50 PM ET

As the health care debate continues to rage, Americans are deluged with stories about the obesity epidemic and its corrosive effects on the nation's health. Now Gallup, in collaboration with Healthways, has determined the fittest (and most obese) metropolitan areas in the country.

Gallup's telephone survey, which was conducted between December 29, 2009 and January 2, 2010, calculated average body mass index based on the heights and weights the respondents provided. The study also recorded information of health habits such as eating, exercise and access to health insurance.

Given the strong national correlation between "having a safe place to exercise" and obesity rate, it's not surprising that four metro areas in Colorado made the top ten.

Check out which cities made Gallup's top ten fittest cities list:

#10: Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Connecticut
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Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Connecticut (19.3% Obese)
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As the health care debate continues to rage, Americans are deluged with stories about the obesity epidemic and its corrosive effects on the nation's health. Now Gallup, in collaboration with Healthwa...
As the health care debate continues to rage, Americans are deluged with stories about the obesity epidemic and its corrosive effects on the nation's health. Now Gallup, in collaboration with Healthwa...
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chiodo08
...come off your front foot for a "change"...
699 Fans
01:05 PM on 03/16/2010
I'm moving to Colorado....I've had enough of obese flesh hogging up the aisles on their Lark's.
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sacbeme
15 Fans
12:54 PM on 03/16/2010
Woo Hoo Cali (Nor Cal) dominated it.
But there are actually a lot of fat people up here.
I would dispute those percentages.
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commentator101
75 Fans
09:09 PM on 04/24/2010
What's Colorado? Chopped liver?
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Hans Wurst
211 Fans
12:53 PM on 03/16/2010
This ranking is only valid if you believe that fitness and having a high weight are mutually exclusive. You can be overweight and fit and you can be underweight and unfit, even though usually it is the other way around. Fitness begins with regular exercise. You don't have to loose weight to get fitter, even though it may very well happen that you loose weight as you increase your exercise.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TokyoStormWarning
If you're not outraged you're not paying attention
1319 Fans
 
11:16 AM on 03/16/2010
What does it say about the fitness of Americans when in the nation's 10th fittest city almost 1 in 5 people is obese?
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MajorKong
If the pilot's good, see, I mean if he's reeeally
1635 Fans
10:36 AM on 03/16/2010
I'm sure Columbus Ohio most definitely did NOT make this list.
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Sandmanj
Tread gently. Mother nature is pregnant.
858 Fans
09:32 AM on 03/16/2010
Any list of the fittest cities in the U.S. that leaves out San Diego is worthless.
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raymurt
9 Fans
09:16 AM on 03/16/2010
hmm, 8 states names start with a "C", obviously some kinda bias here.
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UnionJok
19 Fans
08:54 AM on 03/16/2010
Bicycle Repair Man, how can we ever thank you!

P.S. The tug of war is from the Round Hill Highland Games in Norwalk.
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sachazg
180 Fans
07:55 AM on 03/16/2010
Too bad we are the worst in social services
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Canuknotusa
185 Fans
07:15 AM on 03/16/2010
Why are there no Canadian cities on the list?
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CrazedSurfer
35 Fans
07:39 AM on 03/16/2010
Too much drinking and smoking going on up there !!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
DannyEV
363 Fans
10:08 AM on 03/16/2010
because the list is of America's fittest cities.
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Canuknotusa
185 Fans
01:05 PM on 03/16/2010
That's kinda the point.

If it was "The fittest US cities" then I understand.

But Canada is a North American country, so the list should include Canadian cities - as well as cities in Mexico, Central and South America...
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spytheweb
1081 Fans
06:45 AM on 03/16/2010
America is not a bicycle friendly country. I ride everyday.

My bike of 27 years:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/3515137354_8aafa41b44.jpg
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Havana Thinks
Live and Let Live!
374 Fans
04:58 AM on 03/16/2010
..."based on heights and weights the respondents provided."!!!!!!!!!!!
How much more ridiculously inaccurate could the survey B??? Who will tell U on the phone how much s/he weighs? This is especially true if U call when others R nearby. People lie about their weight, age, height, sexual preference.......Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeze........this 'survey' is stupid and makes a mockery of actual blind tests, verifiable surveys where people are looked at, monitored and tested at a physician's office! Only in America!
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steveo5150
8 Fans
03:36 AM on 03/16/2010
Bozeman Montana.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
realitytrumpsbull
two 'alves of coconut!
1090 Fans
 
03:16 AM on 03/16/2010
Mere seconds after Bicycle Man was photographed in his spandex-clad valiant uphill struggle to ward off heart disease, he was rapidly overtaken by another man, this one mysterious and anonymous, clad in full racing leathers and hidden behind tinted visor, astride his 1.3 liter, digitally fuel-injected, 420-pound, 150HP screaming demon GP superbike, with the precision japanese engine turning lazily at 9,343 RPM in 2nd gear, dragging a knee around the right-hand sweeper ahead...and soon vanished in the distance, only the howling staccato sound of the high-performance racing pipes and rapid-fire gearshifts echoing down the canyon to betray his ever having been there...
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Merckx
311 Fans
06:04 AM on 03/16/2010
I ride motorcycle and bicycle. Love them both. You should try it sometime.
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Mr.Fitz
19 Fans
 
07:56 AM on 03/16/2010
But bicycle man lives when his bike lands on him.
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Merckx
311 Fans
09:27 AM on 03/16/2010
Ha, Ha.
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joeythekangaroo
21 Fans
03:15 AM on 03/16/2010
In an amazing coincidence these same 10 cities ranked highest in another Gallup pole: 10 Cities where people are most likely to lie about their weight.
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