For the seventh year in a row, Arlington has been declared the fittest city in America according to the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) Fitness Index. (DC fared well, too, coming in at No. 2.) The index looks at factors like blood pressure, obesity, and mental health to filter into a “Personal Health” rank, while walkability, number of recreational facilities, and funding are considered in a “Community + Environment” rank. Arlington scores fourth in “Personal Health” and first in “Community + Environment,” which combined, leads the jurisdiction—which is technically an urban county and not a city—to the top spot.
So what makes Arlington so good at being so healthy? Dr. Stella Volpe, the president of ACSM, has a few insights. “They have the resources,” she says. “They have good lighting, they have good sidewalks, they have safe bike paths.” Indeed, Arlington has more than 150 outdoor park facilities, like tennis courts, swimming pools, and climbing walls. And, Volpe says, people in Arlington are “walking to lunch, or they’re walking to get their coffee before they go to work.”
But not every jurisdiction has the funds to improve community spaces. If you’re worried about how your hometown ranks on ACSM’s list, Volpe suggests you work on your own personal health. Whether or not you can afford a gym membership or find a yoga class on every block, Volpe encourages you to make short bouts of physical activity a part of your life. Take the stairs. Do seated exercises. Any form of physical activity can help decrease you chances of developing chronic diseases, which is one of the factors ACSM weighs in its index.
“Exercise is medicine. And we really do know that,” Volpe says. “I think once people start to get moving, if they haven’t been, they’ll get into a habit.”
And building habits is key. On top of scoring the highest percentage of people who report exercising within the previous month (87.8), Arlington also has the highest percentage of people who report sleeping more than seven hours per day (76.4), and the lowest percentage of smokers (only 3.4). But what really draws ACSM’s attention is a combination of a physically active culture and an extensive built environment. Volpe says she isn’t sure which emerged first in the city, but she knows everything has to start somewhere.
And if one city can do it, so can others that trail it.
“For all of these cities, there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she says. “For cities that aren’t ranking as well, there are things that could be done that maybe don’t need a lot of resources. That might be minor things that could help lead to improvements, right?”
