|  | Diet Nutrition | Nutrition

The Least Healthy Cities to Live in the U.S.

Diet, excercise, obesity, life expectancy, disease, environment and several other factors play into the health of city residents. Several publications over the past few years have tried to determine which cities in the United States are the most unhealthy. Each publication used its own criteria to determine the results of its study.

  1. Huntington, West Virginia

    • Huntington, West Virginia, a town of 50,000 people, was named the unhealthiest city in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2008. According to the results, over half of the adults in the city are obese due to fast food and lack of excercise. Huntington also topped the lists for illness, heart diesease, diabetes and people who have lost all of their teeth. The CDC has not not repeated its study since, but the status of unhealtiest city in the U.S. has stuck. In 2010, Jamie Oliver, a well-known chef, took his show "Food Revolution" to Huntington to try to help the city's residents change their eating habits.

    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

    • The American College of Sports Medicine's annual fitness index ranked Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as the unhealthiest city to live in 2010, according to Arizona Foothills Magazine. According to the study, 30 percent of the town is obese. In addition, 71 percent of the citizens do not excercise.

    Memphis, Tennessee

    • "Forbes" ranked Memphis, Tennessee, as the most sedentary city and country's most obese in 2007. According to the study done by the publication, over 34 percent of the city's residents were obese. The causes were high rates of poverty and fattening food choices.

    St. Louis, Missouri and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    • "Men's Health" and "Women's Health" magazines ranked St. Louis, Missouri, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the unhealthiest cities in 2010. The magazine based their decisions on cost of living, cancer rates, life expectancy, eating habits and exercise habits. St Louis was the worst city for men and Philadelphia was the worst city for women to live in.

Nutrition - Related Articles