Fattest and Fittest Cities - San Antonio Moves Up

[Kori Ellis]

NEW YORK, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The results are in and all bets are
off - - Sin City weighs in as the metropolis with the most pounds. Las
Vegas has been named the fattest city in the U.S. in Men's Fitness' "9th
Annual Fattest and Fittest Cities in America Report." San Antonio comes in
at #2, up ten spots from 2006, while Miami put on a few pounds to move to
#3, followed by Mesa, AZ, and Los Angeles. On the other side of the scale,
Albuquerque ranks as the fittest city in America, followed by Seattle,
Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, and Tucson.

To compile the report, Men's Fitness spent months pouring over data
that make real people fit or fat, including how much residents are
excising, how healthfully they eat, how much they use gym memberships, how
much junk food they consume, and how much time they spend sitting in
traffic. Men's Fitness also talks to mayors and city parks departments to
learn about local exercise venues, programs designed to get citizens off
their couches and moving, and civic leadership.

Las Vegas residents can thank the high number of fast-food restaurants
-- more than any other city on the survey (except Cleveland), and extremely
inactive residents. Seven out of ten residents of Las Vegas are so
sedentary that doctors say they're putting their health at risk.

The complete list of the "Fattest and Fittest Cities in America"
appears in the March issue of Men's Fitness, on-sale nationwide today.

The Top 10 Fattest Cities in 2007

2007 RANKING LAST YEAR
1. Las Vegas 2
2. San Antonio 12
3. Miami 14
4. Mesa, AZ 10
5. Los Angeles 3
6. Houston 5
7. Dallas 4
8. El Paso 8
9. Detroit 15
10. San Jose 24

The Top 10 Fittest Cities in 2007

2007 RANKING LAST YEAR
1. Albuquerque 13
2. Seattle 8
3. Colorado Springs 6
4. Minneapolis 21
5. Tucson 4
6. Denver 20
7. San Francisco 7
8. Baltimore 1
9. Portland 17
10. Honolulu 2

The Junk Food Capital: Cleveland

The Most Athletic City: Milwaukee

The City That Watches the Most TV: Memphis

The City With the Best Eating Habits: Oakland, CA

[1369]

From the amount of participation over on the Body Solutions board, that doesn't surprise me.

[tlongII]

GET OFF YOUR COLLECTIVE ASSES AND GO TO THE GYM!!!

[lebomb]

WTF???? Enchilladas, Tortillas, BBQ sammiches, fried fish, tamales, chicharones, refried beans, and Carnitas arent healthy????

[midgetonadonkey]

That's why I love this city. I'm thin compared to most people.

[tlongII]

I HATE finishing behind Seattle in just about everything!

[Mixability]

T Park has some splainin' to do.

[tlongII]

San Antonio has Dallas beat in this power ranking!

[Mixability]

and how much time they spend sitting in
traffic
:huh

[mikejones99]

This has to be bullshit. Seattle has mostly fat bitches up there.

[Mixability]

no wonder its a depressing city.

[Shelly]

From the amount of participation over on the Body Solutions board, that doesn't surprise me.

Ahem!

[1369]

Ahem!

Well of course you and the other three people who post in there are exempt.

[Melmart1]

I barely saw any "fat bitches" when I lived in Seattle. On the contrary most people were quite fit and the overweight ones were not grossly so.

[atxrocker]

Is anybody seriously surprised by this? :rolleyes

I am interested in what Buddy Holly's spin on this would be though.

[midgetonadonkey]

This has to be bullshit. Seattle has mostly fat bitches up there.

Sounds like heaven to me.

[ShoogarBear]

Okay, I'm going to the gym now. Who's with me?

[midgetonadonkey]

Okay, I'm going to the gym now. Who's with me?

If by gym you mean bar, I'm there.

[ShoogarBear]

They have bars in the gym, midge. So, you coming?

[Extra Stout]

The Men's Fitness survey consistently has been full of shit every year.

Their criteria are utter bullshit. A Philly cheesesteak is "healthy food," while a protein shake is "junk food."

There is actual data on which cities have the most obese people. San Antonio usually ranks at or near the top.

[Extra Stout]

Seriously, read the results. Milwaukee is the "most athletic" city. Residents of Oakland have the healthiest eating habits. Last year, Baltimore of all places was the "healthiest city." It is complete and utter bullshit. They have to tweak the criteria every year to try to get results that are halfway credible and yet still fail.

This survey pisses me off because it is utterly baseless, yet people will quote it all year as if it were scientific.

[johnsmith]

Seriously, read the results. Milwaukee is the "most athletic" city. Residents of Oakland have the healthiest eating habits. Last year, Baltimore of all places was the "healthiest city." It is complete and utter bullshit. They have to tweak the criteria every year to try to get results that are halfway credible and yet still fail.

This survey pisses me off because it is utterly baseless, yet people will quote it all year as if it were scientific.

Utterly baseless maybe, but come on. Have you looked at the driver next to you at any given time and at any given place in San Antonio? Chances are, they're fat.

[Shelly]

I think they base it also on on many health clubs there are in the city?

[Extra Stout]

Utterly baseless maybe, but come on. Have you looked at the driver next to you at any given time and at any given place in San Antonio? Chances are, they're fat.
San Antonio should be #1 or #2 every single year. The only city that could compare to the disgusting tubs of lard in the Alamo City was New Orleans, but now too much of its population has been dispersed. That SA could have been as low as #12 is absurd.

But be that as it may, the criteria Men's Fitness uses have a middling-at-best correlation to actual fitness. They don't know what they are talking about, yet arrogate authoritativeness. It reminds me of a survey Money magazine used to do on the "Best Places to Live in America."

One year Laredo, TX came in first. They discontinued the survey after that.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I joined at the YMCA this afternoon, thank you very much.

[Trainwreck2100]

body solutions board?

[atxrocker]

Is anybody seriously surprised by this?

[Typical S.A Mexican]

Obtainable goal for next year: #1. Second place is first loser, ese's.

[dallaskd]

glad to see houston, dallas and san antonio all on there. good job fat asses.

[Good 'N Plenty]

I know I'm doing my part.

[boutons_]

Public release date: 21-Feb-2007
[ | E-mail Article ]

Contact: David Ruth
[email protected]
612-702-9473
University of Minnesota

U of M discovers protein linked to elevated BMI in people of American Indian and Mexican ancestry

Protein is linked to elevated body mass index, obesity and Type 2 diabetes

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 2/21/2007 ) -- University of Minnesota researchers have discovered a variant of a common blood protein, apolipoprotein C1, in people of American Indian and Mexican ancestry that is linked to elevated body mass index (BMI), obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

The finding were published in the Feb. 20 online issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

Lead investigator Gary Nelsestuen, a professor in the College of Biological Sciences’ department of biochemistry, said the abnormal protein may promote metabolic efficiency and storage of body fat when food is abundant. This could have provided a survival advantage to American Indians in the past when food was scarce. The discovery can be used to identify those who are at risk for diabetes and to guide diet and lifestyle choices to prevent diabetes.

Apolipoprotein C1 is a component of high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL). HDL cholesterol is often referred to as good cholesterol, while LDL is called bad cholesterol. The common form of C1 tends to be found in the high-density protein complexes (HDL) that ferry cholesterol to storage depots in the body and are linked to lower cardiovascular disease risk. But the variant form of C1 tends to become part of low density protein complexes (LDL), which transport cholesterol to arterial walls and are associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk. Thus, having the variant could tip the balance of cholesterol carriers and lead toward depletion of HDL-also a risk factor for heart disease. The variant differs from the normal protein by a single change in one of its 57 amino acids.

Among 1500 subjects from widely divergent genetic backgrounds, the variant was found in 35 of 228 persons with American Indian ancestry and in 10 of 84 persons with Mexican ancestry. The average body mass index (BMI) of persons with the variant protein was 9 percent higher and the diabetes rate 50 percent higher among study subjects and their parents. Parents were included because type 2 diabetes often doesn't appear until later in life.

This project has been a departure for Nelsestuen, who has made important discoveries related to blood coagulation proteins involved in bleeding disorders such as hemophilia and coagulation disorders such as sepsis and thrombosis. The university has licensed these proteins to three pharmaceutical companies who are developing them as therapeutic agents. Nelsestuen is recognized on the university’s Wall of Discovery for some of these achievements.

Nelsestuen used income from the blood coagulation protein licenses and his endowment from the Samuel Kirkwood Chair to support the research that led to finding the abnormal variant of C1 lipoprotein.

The funds were used to apply new proteomics technology to screen blood samples for proteins related to disease. This type of protein screening is often described as "discovery" research. In its purest form, proteomics discovery research looks for abnormal proteins in what seems like a random process.

"This type of research is often dismissed as a fishing expedition by funding agencies," Nelsestuen said. "But our finding shows the value of discovery research and of having unrestricted funds to pursue it."

Nelsestuen’s interest in education of minority graduate students provided many of the connections to the communities that became involved in this research. Former student Michael Martinez, helped establish a collaboration with Kenneth McMillan, medical director of the American Indian Community Development Corporation in Minneapolis, and Cristina Flood-Urdangarin of St. Mary’s Health Clinics in St. Paul.

Nelsestuen’s next steps will be to expand the study to the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

"I hope that this discovery will ultimately lead to a Minnesota center for research on minority health issues that can deliver actual health benefits to these communities," Nelsestuen said.

[samikeyp]

I joined at the YMCA this afternoon, thank you very much.

As did the wife and I...but it was in Lansing!

[johnsmith]

Public release date: 21-Feb-2007
[ | E-mail Article ]

Contact: David Ruth
[email protected]
612-702-9473
University of Minnesota

U of M discovers protein linked to elevated BMI in people of American Indian and Mexican ancestry

Protein is linked to elevated body mass index, obesity and Type 2 diabetes

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 2/21/2007 ) -- University of Minnesota researchers have discovered a variant of a common blood protein, apolipoprotein C1, in people of American Indian and Mexican ancestry that is linked to elevated body mass index (BMI), obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

The finding were published in the Feb. 20 online issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

Lead investigator Gary Nelsestuen, a professor in the College of Biological Sciences’ department of biochemistry, said the abnormal protein may promote metabolic efficiency and storage of body fat when food is abundant. This could have provided a survival advantage to American Indians in the past when food was scarce. The discovery can be used to identify those who are at risk for diabetes and to guide diet and lifestyle choices to prevent diabetes.

Apolipoprotein C1 is a component of high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL). HDL cholesterol is often referred to as good cholesterol, while LDL is called bad cholesterol. The common form of C1 tends to be found in the high-density protein complexes (HDL) that ferry cholesterol to storage depots in the body and are linked to lower cardiovascular disease risk. But the variant form of C1 tends to become part of low density protein complexes (LDL), which transport cholesterol to arterial walls and are associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk. Thus, having the variant could tip the balance of cholesterol carriers and lead toward depletion of HDL-also a risk factor for heart disease. The variant differs from the normal protein by a single change in one of its 57 amino acids.

Among 1500 subjects from widely divergent genetic backgrounds, the variant was found in 35 of 228 persons with American Indian ancestry and in 10 of 84 persons with Mexican ancestry. The average body mass index (BMI) of persons with the variant protein was 9 percent higher and the diabetes rate 50 percent higher among study subjects and their parents. Parents were included because type 2 diabetes often doesn't appear until later in life.

This project has been a departure for Nelsestuen, who has made important discoveries related to blood coagulation proteins involved in bleeding disorders such as hemophilia and coagulation disorders such as sepsis and thrombosis. The university has licensed these proteins to three pharmaceutical companies who are developing them as therapeutic agents. Nelsestuen is recognized on the university’s Wall of Discovery for some of these achievements.

Nelsestuen used income from the blood coagulation protein licenses and his endowment from the Samuel Kirkwood Chair to support the research that led to finding the abnormal variant of C1 lipoprotein.

The funds were used to apply new proteomics technology to screen blood samples for proteins related to disease. This type of protein screening is often described as "discovery" research. In its purest form, proteomics discovery research looks for abnormal proteins in what seems like a random process.

"This type of research is often dismissed as a fishing expedition by funding agencies," Nelsestuen said. "But our finding shows the value of discovery research and of having unrestricted funds to pursue it."

Nelsestuen’s interest in education of minority graduate students provided many of the connections to the communities that became involved in this research. Former student Michael Martinez, helped establish a collaboration with Kenneth McMillan, medical director of the American Indian Community Development Corporation in Minneapolis, and Cristina Flood-Urdangarin of St. Mary’s Health Clinics in St. Paul.

Nelsestuen’s next steps will be to expand the study to the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

"I hope that this discovery will ultimately lead to a Minnesota center for research on minority health issues that can deliver actual health benefits to these communities," Nelsestuen said.


And with that, Boutons has justified his battle with obesity.

[phyzik]

I love San Antonio, even the cops are out of shape. Makes it easy for a 160Lb like me to get away with shit I normally wouldnt do to people who could kill me if they could just catch me before running out of breath after 1 minute of running.

Fat bitches at the bars are depressing though.

[Fillmoe]

The City With the Best Eating Habits: Oakland, CA


how do they figure that? they must have only polled the non ghetto side of oakland

[1Parker1]

LA's one of the fattest cities? Weird...I thought it'd be in the top 5 in the fittest. :wtf