Report Card Scores Health Of US Cities, OKC Near Bottom

The American College of Sports Medicine released their annual American Fitness Index report of the 50 healthiest U.S. cities and Oklahoma City comes in near the bottom.

The report, now in its seventh year, ranks cities based on a number of factors including preventive health behaviors, rates of chronic health conditions, access to health care, as well as community resources and policies that encourage physical activity.

American College of Sports Medicine 2014 list

This year's top three ranked cities are Washington, D.C., Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota and Portland, Oregon.

The three lowest ranking are Oklahoma City, Louisville, Kentucky and Memphis, Tennessee.

For the report, the researchers analyzed data from the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Management and Budget. The Center for City Park Excellence and the Trust for Public Land also provided community and environmental data. The researchers also culled data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture State Report Cards, which is another report by the CDC and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The authors generated the scores -- from 1 to 100 -- with a specially designed algorithmic formula used in prior reports.

From the data, 31 different indicators were identified including death rates from a number of chronic health conditions such as diabetes; number of golf courses, parks, swimming pools, recreation centers and tennis courts per capita; health behaviors including smoking, obesity, exercise habits and consumption of fruits and vegetables; and environmental factors such as pollution, availability of public transportation, bike lanes and crime rates.

The city of Tulsa was not included in the list.