Map: Twin Cities Metro Ranks Among Slimmest In America

TWIN CITES, MN — The Twin Cities metro area remains one of the fittest places in America. The personal finance site WalletHub on Wednesday ranked the nation’s 100 most populous metros based on 19 metrics across three categories: obesity and overweight, health consequences and food and fitness.

Overall, the Twin Cities ranked 97th “fattest” in the country, slightly fatter than Portland and slimmer than Denver. Here’s the breakdown for our area:

• Obesity and overweight rank: 96
• Health consequences rank: 81
• Food and fitness rank: 96

Obesity and overweight, unsurprisingly, received the most weight (so to speak) in the rankings, accounting for 60 percent of the overall score. This category included metrics such as share of overweight and obese adults, teens and children.

Health consequences received the second highest weight, accounting for 25 percent of the overall score. This category included metrics such as share of adults with high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Food and fitness accounted for 15 percent of the overall score and included metrics such as city friendliness toward an active lifestyle and share of adults who eat low amounts of fruits and vegetables.

The fattest place in America is the McCallen-Edinburg-Mission metro area in Texas. The metro ranked 2nd in obesity and overweight and No. 1 in food and fitness. Here are the top 10 fattest cities:

1. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
2. Shreveport-Bossier City, LA
3. Memphis, TN-MS-AR
4. Jackson, MS
5. Mobile, AL
6. Tulsa, OK
7. Knoxville
8. Toledo, OH
9. Baton Rouge, LA
10. Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC

Many of the fattest cities were concentrated in the South and Southeast. Louisiana alone is home to four of the 15 fattest places: Shreveport-Bossier, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and New Orleans-Metairie.

Meanwhile, the West and parts of the Northeast tend to have tighter waistlines. This includes the San Francisco bay area, which ranked as the slimmest major metro in the country.

An adult is considered overweight if their body mass index, or BMI, falls between 25 and 30. An adult is obese if that number climbs higher than 30. You can calculate your BMI by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said obesity stems from a range of factors, including genetics and behavior. Exercise — or lack thereof — can be a major contributor, along with medication and poor diet.

Obesity is also a “serious” health concern, the CDC said. About 40 percent of American adults are obese, or roughly 93.3 million people. It has been linked to poor mental health and a lower quality of life, and can lead to diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancer.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.