WalletHub
It’s an unbelievable distinction.
The unhealthiest city in America. But it’s a distinction that was recently bestowed upon Brownsville, the largest city in the Rio Grande Valley.
Out of 182 large cities across the United States, the city "on the border by the sea" came in dead last in a new ranking of the Healthiest and Unhealthiest Cities in America by personal finance website WalletHub.
Out of 182 large cities across the United States, the city "on the border by the sea" came in dead last in a new ranking of the Healthiest and Unhealthiest Cities in America by personal finance website WalletHub.
And it wasn’t the only South Texas city orbiting the bottom. Of the 16 major Texas metropolitan statistical areas that made WalletHub’s list, only four cracked the top half on the "healthiest" side of the ranking. The remaining 12 were ranked firmly on the "unhealthiest" side of the coin, including Corpus Christi and Laredo, which joined Brownsville in the bottom 10.
"Where people live can have a big influence on how successful they are at staying in good health," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. "So, the best cities are the ones that provide the greatest access to high-quality healthcare, green spaces, recreation spaces, and healthy food."
To create the ranking, WalletHub culled data from multiple sources in order to assign weighted scores across four major metrics, which the site refers to as "key dimensions" — Health Care, Food, Fitness and Green Space. The site then compared 150 of the most populated American cities, including at least two of the most populated cities in each of the 50 states in order to take into account states with smaller populations.
"The analysis considers everything from the cost of a medical visit to fruit and vegetable consumption and the percentage of adults who are physically active," WalletHub officials said.
Brownsville ranked the worst of any city in terms of fitness, and second-to-last in terms of health care and food. And at No. 172, the city of nearly 195,000 residents also has among the worst access to green spaces, which may have contributed to its ranking within the bottom five when it comes to the percentage of physically active adults.
"Where people live can have a big influence on how successful they are at staying in good health," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. "So, the best cities are the ones that provide the greatest access to high-quality healthcare, green spaces, recreation spaces, and healthy food."
To create the ranking, WalletHub culled data from multiple sources in order to assign weighted scores across four major metrics, which the site refers to as "key dimensions" — Health Care, Food, Fitness and Green Space. The site then compared 150 of the most populated American cities, including at least two of the most populated cities in each of the 50 states in order to take into account states with smaller populations.
"The analysis considers everything from the cost of a medical visit to fruit and vegetable consumption and the percentage of adults who are physically active," WalletHub officials said.
Brownsville ranked the worst of any city in terms of fitness, and second-to-last in terms of health care and food. And at No. 172, the city of nearly 195,000 residents also has among the worst access to green spaces, which may have contributed to its ranking within the bottom five when it comes to the percentage of physically active adults.
But other cities in deep South Texas didn’t fare much better.
For instance, Laredo ranked last for access to mental health counselors, with nine times fewer per capita than Worcester, Massachusetts; Missoula, Montana; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Richmond, Virginia and Manchester, New Hampshire, which all tied for first for counselor availability. The Webb County border city also ranked second-to-last when it came to the number of healthy restaurants per capita.
Meanwhile, of the four cities that made it to the top half of the overall ranking, Austin came in first in a five-way tie for the city with the best access to dieticians and nutritionists per capita. And Plano — an affluent suburb of Dallas — ranked third-best when it comes to its premature death rate.
Here’s how every Texas city ranked overall: Austin (9), Plano (63), Houston (70), Dallas (83), San Antonio (101), Fort Worth (116), Lubbock (130), Garland (133), El Paso (136), Arlington (145), Irving (147), Grand Prairie (154), Amarillo (162), Corpus Christii (175), Laredo (180) and Brownsville (182).
McAllen, the second-largest city in the Valley, which was named the second-fattest city in the nation, was not listed in WalletHub’s ranking of healthiest and unhealthiest cities.
(Dina Arévalo has been a journalist in the Rio Grande Valley since 2004 and is a graduate from Baylor University. She was previously with The Monitor in McAllen covering Hidalgo County governments and KRGV as a weekend technical director and associate producer.)
Meanwhile, of the four cities that made it to the top half of the overall ranking, Austin came in first in a five-way tie for the city with the best access to dieticians and nutritionists per capita. And Plano — an affluent suburb of Dallas — ranked third-best when it comes to its premature death rate.
Here’s how every Texas city ranked overall: Austin (9), Plano (63), Houston (70), Dallas (83), San Antonio (101), Fort Worth (116), Lubbock (130), Garland (133), El Paso (136), Arlington (145), Irving (147), Grand Prairie (154), Amarillo (162), Corpus Christii (175), Laredo (180) and Brownsville (182).
McAllen, the second-largest city in the Valley, which was named the second-fattest city in the nation, was not listed in WalletHub’s ranking of healthiest and unhealthiest cities.
(Dina Arévalo has been a journalist in the Rio Grande Valley since 2004 and is a graduate from Baylor University. She was previously with The Monitor in McAllen covering Hidalgo County governments and KRGV as a weekend technical director and associate producer.)
5 comments:
If you can stand and sit down 5 times in a row without using your hands in 15 seconds, you're alright.
Keep it up. Im 40 lbs overweight and I can do it in 10 hours, tengo los huevos bien hinchados, me duele las rodillas por tanto peso. Take it easy!
The difference between Baby Boomers and Gen X was we played sports and didn't really watch it on tv.
Haha, fair enough 😄
I’ll take that test as a win for anyone who can pull it off—knees included. And hey, 40 lbs or not, the fact you’re still getting up and down at all counts for something. The knees complaining just means they’re still in the game.
“10 hours” made me laugh though… sounds about right on some days.
As for the generational thing—you’re not wrong. A lot of us grew up actually playing outside until the streetlights came on, not just watching highlights. Different times, different habits.
Take it easy too—and maybe go a little easy on those knees 👍
Back in the early 90's I remember Brownsville being described in Time magazine as a "dusty farm town." This is when, in my late teens, I learned that Brownsville is the anus of the United States.
Did the Zavaleta woman make sure these folks learned about her $$$bike trails?
Austin: young people Brownsville: old people
Austin: beer and pizza Brownsville: caldo, soups, tacos
Austin: bikes, parks Brownsville: Boca Chica, Padre Island, resacas, parks, el bordo with LA MIGRA, flooded streets, Mayor Cowen, best mayor in Texas. La Muralla, Las Prietas, Los Ebanos, La Southmost etc
Who wins? Brownsville but Austin shakes the numbers to get a better ranking.
Well a breakfast base on flour tortillas y the culprit here. It's cheap and its filling, but it's very unhealthy, I don't even think it provides any essential nutrients. Tamales, tortillas, pan dulce, coca-cola, that's our food pyramid in the RGV. So who's to blame? Lack of nutritional education, affordability, type of employment... ?
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