American College of Sports Medicine Ranks Providence in Top 20 Healthiest Cities in U.S.

Capital City nabs No. 19 spot out of 50 cities.

After just garnering the No. 5 spot on America's Healthiest Cities for Families by Parents Magazine, Providence has added another notch on its fitness belt. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) ranked Providence No. 19 on its list of healthiest American cities. The study is part of the ACSM American Fitness Index report, a scientific snapshot of the state of health and fitness at the metropolitan level.

The ACSM noted the following strengths for Providence:
• Lower percentage of households below poverty level
• Lower death rate for diabetes
• More farmers' markets per capita
• Higher percent bicycling or walking to work
• More ball diamonds per capita
• More dog parks per capita
• More park playgrounds per capita
• More golf courses per capita
• More park units per capita
• More swimming pools per capita
• Higher level of state requirement for Physical Education classes

Get the full Providence report card here: www.americanfitnessindex.org/docs/reports/providence.pdf

To see where other cities rank on the health meter, visit www.americanfitnessindex.org/report.htm