The healthiest city dwellers in America live in San Jose, Calif., according to a new study released by Bert Sperling's BestPlaces and multivitamin-maker Centrum.
March 13, 2006 (Press Release) --
About the Centrum Healthiest Cities in America Study
Methodology
This study was conducted by Bert Sperling. The 50 most populous metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, were chosen to be included in the study. For the purpose of this study, MSAs are referred to as "cities" or "metro areas." The 2003 estimated population was used to determine the most populous 50 places. The study was based on the following criteria:
Mental Wellness
Lifestyle
Fitness
Health Status
Nutrition
Stress index
Sleep problems
Mental health not good
Poor health- reduced usual activities
Physical health not good
General health is excellent
Low unemployment rate
High recent job growth
Cost of living index Commute time
Vacation days
Hours per week
Overtime hours
Social and recr. memberships
Bicycling expenditures
Camping and boating expend.
Toys, hobbies expend.
Dinner out expend.
Theater, symph, dance, opera
Musical instr. stores
Amusement parks
Dog parks Exercise - moderate
Exercise - vigorous
Some physical activity
Participant sports fees
Recr. lessons
Recr. expend.
Gyms/ health clubs
Diabetes incidence
Hypertension incidence
Arthritis incidence
Asthma incidence
High cholesterol incidence
Dental visits/teeth cleaning
Smoking - some days
Smoking - every day
Physicians per capita
Multivitamin usage
BMI
Fruits and vegetable servings
Fast food outlets
Alcohol - drinks per month
Scoring
The Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) included in the study received points for each of the 50 criteria based on their relation to the other MSAs' scores in that data category. To compare categories, the most significant data element for any given category received a score of 100 points. The data element for each category that was associated with the most negative indicator of health received a score of 0 points. The remaining cities were assigned point values between 0 and 100 based on their data element’s percentage of the range between the most desirable score in that category and the least desirable score in that category. In this way, the point values assigned to cities preserve the proportionality of the data points in relation to the data set while providing a common point scale. Category scores were weighted and aggregated to determine an overall healthy city score for each metro area.
Data Sources
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Study examined two million responses from the 1997-2003 editions of the BRFSS, which is the world's largest telephone Study, reaching over a quarter-million households annually.
Source: http://www.msn.com/
Methodology
This study was conducted by Bert Sperling. The 50 most populous metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, were chosen to be included in the study. For the purpose of this study, MSAs are referred to as "cities" or "metro areas." The 2003 estimated population was used to determine the most populous 50 places. The study was based on the following criteria:
Mental Wellness
Lifestyle
Fitness
Health Status
Nutrition
Stress index
Sleep problems
Mental health not good
Poor health- reduced usual activities
Physical health not good
General health is excellent
Low unemployment rate
High recent job growth
Cost of living index Commute time
Vacation days
Hours per week
Overtime hours
Social and recr. memberships
Bicycling expenditures
Camping and boating expend.
Toys, hobbies expend.
Dinner out expend.
Theater, symph, dance, opera
Musical instr. stores
Amusement parks
Dog parks Exercise - moderate
Exercise - vigorous
Some physical activity
Participant sports fees
Recr. lessons
Recr. expend.
Gyms/ health clubs
Diabetes incidence
Hypertension incidence
Arthritis incidence
Asthma incidence
High cholesterol incidence
Dental visits/teeth cleaning
Smoking - some days
Smoking - every day
Physicians per capita
Multivitamin usage
BMI
Fruits and vegetable servings
Fast food outlets
Alcohol - drinks per month
Scoring
The Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) included in the study received points for each of the 50 criteria based on their relation to the other MSAs' scores in that data category. To compare categories, the most significant data element for any given category received a score of 100 points. The data element for each category that was associated with the most negative indicator of health received a score of 0 points. The remaining cities were assigned point values between 0 and 100 based on their data element’s percentage of the range between the most desirable score in that category and the least desirable score in that category. In this way, the point values assigned to cities preserve the proportionality of the data points in relation to the data set while providing a common point scale. Category scores were weighted and aggregated to determine an overall healthy city score for each metro area.
Data Sources
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Study examined two million responses from the 1997-2003 editions of the BRFSS, which is the world's largest telephone Study, reaching over a quarter-million households annually.
Source: http://www.msn.com/
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