Salt Lake is Fittest City in the US, According to Men's Fitness Magazine

Men's Fitness magazine ranks Salt Lake as the fittest city in America, according to this new article. The magazine studied demographic data and did extensive surveys before compiling its rankings.

Below are excerpts showing what the article had to say about Salt Lake City.

A newcomer to MF's annual list, the Utah capital jumped (or shall we say, slalomed) to the top of the survey because of its abundance of park space, athletically motivated residents, and below- average obesity rates. While the 2002 Winter Olympics host is known for its abundance of cold-weather activities, Salt Lake City is also athletically impressive away from the mountains.

The metro region ranks highest in our survey in participation in a number of activities, including beach volleyball, racquetball, aerobics, hiking, basketball, yoga, tai chi, swimming, cycling, running, and kickboxing.

According to Nielsen Media Research, TV viewers in the Salt Lake City television market spend 23 percent less time in front of the tube than average among cities in our survey.

Salt Lake City's park acreage per capita is 115 percent higher than average and the 4th highest in our survey. Research has found a connection between access to parks and green space and reduced obesity rates.

Salt Lake City residents participate in sports much more than average - 102 percent more than average, in fact.

Health-food stores are plentiful in Salt Lake City: There's one for every 2,867 residents, handily beating the national average of one store per 12,118.

Golfers can choose from 6 city-owned courses. Relative to population, that's more than almost anywhere else we surveyed.

There are 75 percent more tennis courts per capita here than average among cities in our survey.

Basketball courts are practically everywhere here, among the highest number per capita in our survey. There's a court here for every 1,902 residents; the national average is one court per 6,909 people.

Our survey has found 176 percent more sporting-goods stores in Salt Lake City than average, an indicator of an active populace.

You'll find a higher percentage of mountain bikers in Salt Lake City than almost anywhere else in our survey - 4.6 percent of residents. The national average is 2.5 percent.

What Isn'tSalt Lake City has 57 percent more pizza places per capita than the average among cities in our survey.

Fast food, widely implicated as a contributor to obesity, is more common in Salt Lake City than most places in our survey. In a per capita comparison there are 82 percent more fast-food joints here than average.

Read the entire article.