Attention ladies: Want to move to a healthy city?
You might consider Bethesda, Md., or one of nine other metropolitan areas with the most healthy and fit women in the country, according to an analysis in the December issue of Self magazine (self.com).
To come to up with the list, the magazine's editors had a panel of women's health experts examine 58 criteria from 100 of the largest metro areas as defined by the U.S. Census.
They looked at fitness and diet, weight, heart health, smoking rates and other health factors. They weighed access to health care, parks, trails and fitness centers, air quality, weather, commuting, smoke-free workplaces and farmers' markets.
Bethesda landed on top because women there have some of the lowest rates of smoking, obesity, cancer, depression and heart disease. And they have access to more doctors per capita than anywhere else, the magazine says. There also are acres of parks and miles of trails.
"You can be extremely healthy in a city that might not lend itself to it, but we are just saying these are the easiest places to get the job done," says Lucy Danziger, Self editor in chief.
"We don't want women to pack up the U-Haul and move, but what we want women to do is take on the habits of the healthiest women or work to change their own neighborhood to make it a better place to live."
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