During the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping fit is one of the activities that can be undertaken to help fight an infection. However, the current situation has also limited many opportunities to stay active. Within the U.S., there is disparity between different cities.
The range of differences throughout the U.S. has been identified by the personal-finance website WalletHub. The site has issued a new report, titled ‘2021’s Best & Worst Cities for an Active Lifestyle’.
In order to assess where U.S. citizens have the greater opportunity to keep active during the time of coronavirus, WalletHub examined the 100 biggest U.S. cities. This was performed using some 36 key metrics. The types of data included in the assessment included the mean monthly fitness-club fee to bike usage rates.
The following video explains more about the methodology:
The survey found the top ten cities for keeping fit to be:
1. Honolulu, HI
2. Portland, OR
3. San Diego, CA
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Chicago, IL
6. Seattle, WA
7. Austin, TX
8. Denver, CO
9. Los Angeles, CA
10. Washington, DC
In contrast, the bottom ten cities for good access to affordable fitness were:
91. Corpus Christi, TX
92. Birmingham, AL
93. Bakersfield, CA
94. Irving, TX
95. San Bernardino, CA
96. Laredo, TX
97. Jersey City, NJ
98. Newark, NJ
99. Hialeah, FL
100. North Las Vegas, NV
Within the tables, there were differences according to the different criteria used to make the assessments. For example, with sports goods stores, Orlando, Florida, had the greatest number per square root of population). This was close to 12-times higher than the lowest ranked city in this category, which was North Las Vegas, Nevada.
With a popular sport like golf, Scottsdale, Arizona, boasts the highest number public golf courses per square root of population), 0some 40 times more than Laredo, Texas. Taking a different measure, Boston has the highest number fitness trainers and aerobics instructors per 100,000 residents. This is over eight times more than in Corpus Christi, Texas, which is at the bottom of the list in this area.
There is another aspect to keeping fit, as WalletHub has identified. The amount that the U.S. spent on medical bills in order to tackle diabetes in 2019 was $294.6 billion. This translates as an average $9,506 spend per person on health care costs to tackle the metabolic condition. The survey suggests that the costs involved in supporting diabetes are escalating.
