Providence’s Health + Fitness Levels Worst In New England—Report
Thursday, August 01, 2013
A new analysis of 30 health and fitness indicators places Providence in the middle of 50 major US metro areas, and behind the other New England cities.
The Boston metro area, officially designated Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH, ranked #6 in the US for 2013; followed by Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT, at #9. The #1 metro in the US was Minneapolis, MN, followed by #2 Washington DC metro area, and Portland, OR, at #3. The New York metro area ranked behind Providence at #24.
The American Fitness Index
A joint project of the WellPoint Foundation and the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Fitness Index (AFI) program has been evaluating America's largest metro areas for six years, scoring each metro on 30 data indicators and then stacking each community up against recommended benchmarks for a healthy population.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe AFI's results are presented with the hope that metro areas will use the data to drive reform and public health initiatives, according to Sam Nussbaum, Executive Vice President, Clinical Health Policy and Chief Medical Officer of WellPoint Foundation. According to Nussbaum, cities such as Indianapolis (#45 this year) and Oklahoma City (#50) have responded with new strategies to improve their local health and fitness measures.
Providence's strengths and weaknesses
The Providence metro area's middling ranking netted out in near-equal number of data judged by AFI to be at or ahead of the benchmark, and those needing work. (Providence's metro area encompasses nearly the entire state and the Fall River area, but some of the data was derived only from the city of Providence itself). Providence's areas of excellence were:
• Lower death rate for diabetes
• Higher percent of city land area as parkland
• 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 park units per capita
• More recreation centers per capita
• Higher level of state requirement for Physical Education classes
On the other hand, areas, identified by AFI, where results were worse than 20% lower than the target goal, were:
• Higher percent currently smoking
• Higher percent obese
• Higher percent of days when physical health was not good during the past 30 days
• Higher percent of days when mental health was not good during the past 30 days
• Higher percent with asthma
• Higher percent with angina or coronary heart disease
• Higher percent with diabetes
• Fewer acres of parkland per capita
• Lower percent using public transportation to work
• Fewer golf courses per capita
• Fewer tennis courts per capita
• Lower park-related expenditures per capita
To see graphs of Providence's performance against the benchmarks, scroll down.
HEALTH responds: Major challenges
"We are proud of our national ranking in other surveys, and we know we have major challenges around smoking, asthma, diabetes and heart disease," said Michael Fine, MD, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. "That's why we try so hard to get the 160,000-plus Rhode Islanders who are smoking to stop, to get all Rhode Islanders to eat fresh, Rhode Island-grown fruits and vegetables, and all Rhode Islanders to exercise at least 30 minutes per day. We do this in partnership with primary care practices and community health centers, who we think are the best in the nation."
Miriam expert: Room for improvement
Amy Vayda, M.S., CPT, an Exercise Physiologist with the Weight Management Program at the Miriam Hospital and thought Providence's overall score showed what she called "definite room for improvement," noting that a few statistics jumped out of the list. "The percentage of people getting ANY physical activity/exercise in the last 30 days was less than ideal in Providence, and can always be increased," she said. "Physical activity and exercise have been shown to improve weight and decrease the risk of heart disease and diabetes, as well as better mental health. Providence currently has a higher percent in all of those measures but exercise could change that."
Vayda also spotted an investment issue where Providence lagged seriously behind: an investment in its parks. "Park-related expenditures were only $38 per capita in Providence, compared to $101.80 (target) and the $227 that #1 city, Minneapolis spends," she said. "With an improved park environment and access, it’s likely that more people would be encouraged to utilize them for physical activity."
On the positive side, she noted, Providence did have more recreation centers, farmers’ markets, and a higher level of state requirement for PE.
Overall, Vayda had praise for AFI's both broad and detailed look at the health and fitness of America's metropolitan areas. "It forces us to take a look at what we excel in, where we lack, and what we can do to improve them and the health of our population," she said.
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