‘Fittest in America’ list ranked 100 cities this time — Indianapolis is still not good

Between bites of my morning McGriddle and sips of my Red Bull, I was made aware of a new study that pointed out that Indianapolis comes in 99 out of 100 when ranking the nation's fittest cities.

So let me begin by apologizing for pulling down that average. Now pass me a glazed donut as I kick off "second breakfast" here at my desk.

If my lack of shock and outrage alarms you, it's only because the Circle City has occupied this bottom rung position every time the American College of Sports Medicine releases its annual American Fitness Index.

The American College of Sports Medicine is not an outsider throwing stones at Hoosiers. ACSM's offices are in Downtown Indianapolis.

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From 2014 to 2017, back when the list only included 50 cities, Indy's last four rankings were 46, 50, 50 and 48.

This is the first year that the list has grown to include 100 locales. But instead of giving us a new crop of cities it outperform, it just shoved us further down into the depths of fried tenderloin batter and high calorie craft beer.

Arlington, Va. took the top spot, powered by the lowest smoking rate in the country, a wealth of farmers markets and a system of well-established parks.

The only city we beat was Oklahoma City, Okla. This is the first time a second Indiana city is represented on the list with Fort Wayne coming in at 84.

The ACSM explains that the rankings are based off cities’ overall scores, which include data on fitness, nutrition, chronic disease, smoking, mental health, access to parks and public transportation.

With those factors, it shows that where a city ends up on this list doesn't fall solely on the shoulders of the population's eating, smoking or exercise habits. For example, Indianapolis got dinged for once again only having 0.5 dog parks per 100,000 people.

We also took a hit for having a park expenditure of $56 per resident, well below the national average of $102. For comparison's sake, St. Louis was the top ranked city in that category with an expenditure of $590 per person.

And we still don't get credit for the 18.6-mile Monon Trail, or the 8-mile Cultural Trail.

One takeaway is that all of us could spend more time in the gym. While some cities passed national averages for fitness, the report shows that most Americans don't meet the Centers for Disease Control recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate activity each week and twice-weekly strength training.

And while more than 75 percent of Americans reported being physically active within the last month, only about half of American adults meet aerobic activity guidelines. And less than a quarter meet both aerobic and strength guidelines.

“Encouraging exercise such as community walking programs and bicycling programs can help communities stem the rising tide of obesity,” Barbara Ainsworth, chair of ACSM and professor at Arizona State University, said in a statement.

Food choices is also a problem area for all Americans. The CDC recommends that adults eat about 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables daily, but the fitness index report found that just 30 percent of adults eat enough fruit, and a 18 percent eat enough vegetables.

But in defense of all Indianapolis residents, some of our local grub is too good to think about portion control. In fact, if this ranking gets you down, ease the pain by reading all the times Indy has been named one of the hottest food cities.

Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.