Heart-Friendly Cities for Women
The American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement has released a study that identifies the nation’s 10 most (and least) heart friendly cities for women. The study, conducted by Sperling’s BestPlaces, is based on the availability of heart-friendly benefits that cities have to offer their residents combined with the lifestyle choices of its women residents.
Minneapolis-St. Paul takes the title of Most Heart Friendly City For Women as it has the lowest cardiac mortality rate for women, low hypertension rates, all combined with the highest exercise rates. Nashville fared the worst due to high obesity and smoking rates. Here are the lists:
Most Heart friendly Cities for Women:
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC
- San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland, CA
- Denver-Aurora, CO
- Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
- Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR
- San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
- Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Least Heart friendly Cities for Women:
- Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN
- St. Louis, MO
- Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
- Columbus, OH
- Cincinnati-Middletown, OH
- Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
- Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
- Indianapolis, IN
Some interesting facts from the Study:
- Minneapolis-St. Paul, Boston and Phoenix reported the lowest female cardiac mortality rates in the country; Detroit, Nashville and St. Louis reported the highest.
- San Francisco, Denver and Los Angeles were the thinnest mega metros; Cleveland, San Antonio and Columbus were among the most overweight.
- Washington, D.C., reported the lowest stress ratings of all the mega metros while Portland, Ore. reported the highest stress levels in the category.
- Generally, California and Colorado cities scored well in the study; while many cities in the South and Midwest scored among the worst.
The study focused on the 200 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States and analyzed over 20 factors for each location including cardiac mortality rates, obesity, smoking, alcohol use, stress, and regular exercise amongst women.
Does your city fall into one of these lists? Just because you may live in a “heart friendly” city this does not automatically make you heart healthy. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women regardless of your city, but it is largely preventable if you work to lower your risks by making changes to your lifestyle like regular exercise and a heart-healthy diet.
Last Updated on June 8th, 2008
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