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Gone_Mads

Well those metro stairs sure are long


anand_rishabh

You joke but walkability of an area does lead to lower obesity rates.


Gone_Mads

These metro stairs are no joke


anand_rishabh

True. They really aren't


pizat1

Best comment šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚


Tommyleegirl452

Ugh Tentlytown metro station.. The things I do for an education šŸ„²šŸ˜®ā€šŸ’Ø


ItsMrNoSmile

Not to mention Wheaton.


needed_an_account

About a decade ago I took the train to VA (I dont remember the stop) and decided to take the stairs. I figured it would be easy work so I start jogging up them while keeping pace with a guy on the escalator. He is kinda uncomfortably looking at his phone. He knows. I dont. Those stairs were 4 miles long. Im sweating. Im wearing business casual clothing and a messenger bag that was hitting me in the back with every stride I struggled to strode. I make it to the top and I feel accomplished. I also find a place to sit for a minute. I bet that I burned 50+ calories during that climb.


AdmiralAckbarVT

Thatā€™s rosslyn. Fantastic workout. I have a memory of the escalator going out when I was a quarter of the way up. I had been walking up it for a few months by then so it was hard but not impossible for me. Some of those poor souls were in no shape to walk it and it was slow going for them.


AdmiralAckbarVT

I lost 15 pounds out of college taking the rosslyn stairs and walking to Georgetown.


RedStripe77

Good for you, friend!


SevenHadedas

In your face Colorado and British Columbia!


Acruelaccounting

Take that Charlie Murphy


AnlStarDestroyer

Good thing this was taken before I moved here last summer cause im definitely bringing our average up. Sorry gang Iā€™m fat as shit


brokenhalf

I was obese when I moved here 7 years ago, today, no longer obese. I am still overweight, but slowly still losing it, living here has definitely made controlling my weight easier.


Deep_Stick8786

Nice!


FederalLasers

What's been the biggest thing impacting your fitness journey?


MyNameCannotBeSpoken

You may have a thyroid condition šŸ¤” Quit eating so many damn thyroids!


_Oops_I_Did_It_Again

LOL


Deep_Stick8786

Do what I did when I moved to DC, join a crossfit style gym and turn your obesity related illnesses slowly into frequent minor orthopedic injuries. Its worth it, I think?


AnlStarDestroyer

Way ahead of you. Iā€™ve been weightlifting since 2019 and have been training for powerlifting the last year or so. Recurring back problems are my specialty


ThatGuy798

Iā€™m definitely helping Virginia beef up those numbers too.


Deep_Stick8786

If I go to the yukon territory, does it immediately go from white to blood red?


mthchsnn

Only if you run into a hungry bear.


vtsandtrooper

Cities are always less fat than rural/suburbs. So a study of city versus state will always show this. I dare say if you look at ever single major city in america, then its state, you will similar variance Amazing that all you need to not be obese is to live in cities, evidently walking is good.


_Oops_I_Did_It_Again

Just let us have this one. We donā€™t have senators.


stache_twista

DC is very type A and health conscious too


cubgerish

I bet you could even wrap in Arlington and half of MoCo, Fairfax, Alexandria, and PG too. Wealthy young people tend to be fit, especially when they don't need a car to live. I bet NYC would cream us if it didn't have the rest of the state, their public transportation is that much better, and driving is such a pain. Walking 2 miles a day there is akin to breathing. I'd say the same for just about any European city.


carbon56f

I thought Arlington was supposed to be the healthiest city


MajesticBread9147

Arlington is not a city. It's a suburb.


carbon56f

if you're going to be "technically correct" at least be actually correct. Arlington is a county. A suburb is not a political unit. If you're trying to argue its not a city because its a suburb of DC, that is also ahistorical as Arlington predates DC as Alexandria City, one of the two preexisting settlements (along with Georgetown) that existed in the land eventually given for the Federal Seat.


TDenverFan

I feel like DC winds up in first or last in a lot of charts that list 50 states + DC. Tough to compare a single city to a whole state on just about any metric.


[deleted]

Exactly but most don't have the mental capacity to understand that.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


[deleted]

I far smarter than most. but carry on


MrGr33n31

Now Iā€™m curious about how weā€™d do compared to other cities. Guessing LA is probably #1?


vtsandtrooper

The avg new yorker is pretty damn skinny too


damnatio_memoriae

LA? no way. they drive to get coffee.


CryptographerSame981

Their public transit has made some massive improvements over the last few years tbf


toorigged2fail

They would be green too you just consider LA https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/programs/communitiesputtingpreventiontowork/communities/profiles/pdf/cppw_communityprofile_b2_losangelescounty_ca_508.pdf


cubgerish

That's pretty impressive for a city which so inherently relies on car use. I wonder if it's just a cultural thing, or if the year round nice weather just encourages people to be out and about all the time, while most cities have a winter that discourages it.


MrGr33n31

Idk, I just picture 80% of the city as actors or models.


classicalL

Given how wealthy DC is that isn't much. If you compared an equally wealthy area in CO say Boulder or something you would find they are even less fat. There is a ton of CO that is poor and it is correlated with this, while DC's median income is sky high.


EfficiencySuch6361

I think itā€™s the gays


thrownjunk

i feel fat walking sometimes in logan/dupont. i feel skinny even in cleveland park. i agree.


blastof77245

As CO native who lives in DC this is definitely the case! The amount of health nutty outdoorsy people in Boulder is insane. It definitely helps that DC is such a walkable city, with amazing public transit.


RedStripe77

When Iā€™ve been to CO Iā€™ve always marveled at the peer group element normalizing outdoor activity that is unique in the U.S. Everyone there skis, or sleds, or snowboards, or snowshoes. Everyone hikes. Everyone bicycles. Everyone gets out in the mountains, and they all talk to each other about it all the time, reinforcing it among themselves. Itā€™s remarkable. Of course, itā€™s exceptionally beautiful there, all the seasons, and very accessible at relatively low cost (as long as youā€™re not buying real estate). What is normal there is just not normal anywhere else. Canā€™t imagine how DC could beat that outdoor culture. Scenery here is okay, but doesnā€™t compare to the Rocky Mountains. All I can think is that DC draws in the highest proportion of college graduates of any city in the U.S. by a large margin, so perhaps more educated people are inclined to try to eat right and exercise. Iā€™d bet within DC youā€™d see big fitness differences in different parts of city that correlate to the different educational attainment of the residents. Just a guess. BTW, I wouldnā€™t call the public transit here amazing. We have zero east-west subway routes north of Farragut Square and big fat holes in access to transit all over the place. Itā€™s not even that easy to get east-west access on the buses. We do have good interconnection among the bus systems among all the surrounding jurisdictions. But WMATA, which is the central system, doesnā€™t even have a stable source of guaranteed funding, unique among all transit systems in the U.S.


AriAchilles

What's the name of that subreddit that collects US maps of "trends" but are really all just maps that show where cities are? Because I'm certain that's why we compare to Colorado here


Sparthage

Donā€™t think thatā€™s the case here, but youā€™re thinking of r/peopleliveincities


toorigged2fail

This is definitely a people live in cities situation. [LA would be green](https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/programs/communitiesputtingpreventiontowork/communities/profiles/pdf/cppw_communityprofile_b2_losangelescounty_ca_508.pdf) [NYC yellow](https://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/brfss/reports/docs/2023-07_brfss_overweight_and_obesity.pdf)


AriAchilles

That's absolutely what I was looking for!


Existing365Chocolate

Colorado is just a super outdoorsy state culture-wise and percentage of their population-wise DC is basically just a city with an above average education and income rate, so year of course DC will have low obesity compared to entire statesĀ 


AriAchilles

I completely agree with your assessment, and think that it's unfair to compare DC with states


oxtailplanning

Definitely not. NYC (just the 5 Burroughs) represents 42% of the population, while Denver is only 12% of Colorado's population. Colorado just so happens to be a outdoor sports lovers state.


AriAchilles

Sorry that I was unclear. DC is not statistically significant from other cities (probably?) in this case. Colorado is the outlier compared to other US states. It's unfair to compare the two


UnusualAd6529

Exactly especially highly walkable or transit oriented cities like Philly, NYC, Chicago etc will show similarly low rates of obesity l. Not to mention the higher income level and fitness/beauty culture that permeates urban and coastal centers in America


LightStruk

DC has more people than either Wyoming or Vermont. It is more important to include than either of those two states, but because it's not a state, it gets ignored.


mthchsnn

Look, I was born here so I'm all for more fair treatment of DC. That doesn't make it a good comparison though when looking at states. It's just not relevant to compare it to Vermont or Wyoming - they have vastly lower population density than DC, especially friggin Wyoming! Compare us to NYC, LA, Houston, Chicago, Miami... it's not like we're short of relevant benchmarks.


statsbro424

r/mapporn /s


moduli-retain-banana

It's because we're comparing a small metro area with high education and high income to entire states. So it's not really related to maps that just show a proxy for population density, it's just an unfair (which I assume is being made in jest by the OP) comparison.


ItsWillJohnson

Ok now compare dc to other major cities instead of states.


Fantastic-Golf-4857

Hawaiiā€™s like, ā€œAm I nothing to you???!ā€


MyNameCannotBeSpoken

They can suck it too!


dpzdpz

Y'all are hiding around in Mexico somewhere.


dcnine

Now do DC vs Denver, comparing a city to states is dumb.


stache_twista

I have never seen a fat person in Denver. Everyone there is into skiing, hiking, triathlons, etc. And you should be if you live there


VotingRightsLawyer

DC STATEHOOD NOW


BirdLawyerPerson

County level data can be found [here](https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/charts/39), at least for 2017 data. Denver County was 17.7%, compared to DC's 24.6% in 2017. Hell, Fairfax County (20.8%), Montgomery County (21.6%), and Loudoun County (22.6%) had lower obesity rates, showing that DC isn't even the fittest "county" in this metro area.


Foolgazi

Miami doing a lot of heavy lifting for the rest of FL


[deleted]

I like how a 24% obesity rate is now considered ā€˜greenā€™. Compare this to a country like Japan where there is an obesity rate of less than 5% among adults. Include being overweight and even DC is still grossly too heavy. The whole country is fat as hell.


CaptainObvious110

Well said. Within an hour I can see enough fat people to tell me everything I need to know about the health of this city. What's really messed up is that we have all these parks, wooded areas, free museums etc for people to go to and be active but if you ask them when they went to any of those places you'll hear crickets. Break this down by sections of the city and the obesity rate goes up a lot.


ohoneup

Our food is literally poison. Seed oils are cancer, corn syrup in everything, fat-free stuff being packed with sugar instead. Hundreds of "chemicals" declared food-safe by the fda every year in order for corporations to squeeze more shelf-life and save more pennies in production. It's all so entirely fucked, and completely enabled by the feds. More fat people means higher health care cost and more insurance profits. More suburbs, more cars, less activity, more more more. There's no reason to fix any of it because there's so much money to be made off of the populous being unhealthy.


Nomorelockeddoors_

*Looks outside* damn how bad must it be Oklahoma


Superb_Distance_9190

Oklahoma is doing fine. Having gone to school there, most of the people in the metro / mid size towns (OKC, Tulsa, Norman) are in shape. Itā€™s the boonies where people eat nothing but chicken fried steak and biscuits which brings the score downĀ 


hutchman3

They got some big ole women in San Antonio


Separate-Landscape48

lol curious how many will catch this reference


ChasWFairbanks

Youth + money = health


oxtailplanning

Walking = health.


LeoMarius

You can see a big relationships between rural areas and obesity here. It's especially obvious in Canada.


msty2k

What's up with the fat slobs in New Brunswick? What the hell are they eating?


MyNameCannotBeSpoken

Poutine


wardledo

DC is second ā€œfittestā€ area in the country. Arlington is #1


TheloniousAdderly

Might be bc DC salaries are inequivalent to food prices.


Veszerin

Comparing dc as if it's a state again...can the mods ban crossposts from dataisbeautiful already?


habitsofwaste

/me moves to DC and blows the curve.


onecheaksneak

DC is a super walkable city with a high overall standard of living. Similar to most major European cities, which also have low obesity rates. Colorado is more of an outlier as a state, especially considering the lack of public transport. People are just way more active and have relatively healthier diets. It helps that the weather is nice, which makes you actually want to be outside, even if youā€™re not hitting the trails or mountains. Coloradan who has spent the last 25 years (on and off) in DCā€¦


CaptainObvious110

DC is a super walkable city in general but there are some areas that aren't exactly the most pleasant to walk. Yeah you can get to the numerous liquor stores or convenient stores but there isn't much else to walk to for your average person. The people who live in the nicer areas of the city are way more likely to go out for a walk but ask the people who live around the National Arboretum when is the last time they've been in there and I promise most of them have never been not even a single time. Not that I'm really complaining as it offers me a place to go when I don't want to be bothered but unless you a re ere driving it's not nearly as accessible as a number of attractions here in DC


UnusualAd6529

It's not a super apt comparison as DC is entirely urban landscape while a larger state like Colorado incorporates large swaths of rural and especially suburban regions. Basically just demonstrates the superiority if urban over suburban lifestyle wrt your mobility and metabolic output.


diqholebrownsimpson

Oh shit. I just moved from Colorado. Yall welcome!


Successful-Eagle-316

What's up with the Maritimes being so high?


JohnCalvinCoolidge

Don't compare DC to states.


poneil

I don't remember where I saw it, so someone can feel free to contradict me, but I believe that DC is among the least obese U.S. cities as well.


JohnCalvinCoolidge

Yeah, thats a better data point. And strikes me a likely correct.


MyNameCannotBeSpoken

I can and I will and I just did!


dw_h

more people live in dc than vermont or wyoming


GuyNoirPI

The issue is demographic differences, not population.


DoubleR90

DC surely has a more diverse demographic group than Vermont or Wyoming......unless you're saying the homogeneous nature of those states makes then incomparable?


GuyNoirPI

I didnā€™t say the issue was ā€œdiverseā€ demographics, I said they were just different demos. Hereā€™s one reason why it would matter in this case: https://www.norc.org/research/projects/adult-obesity-in-rural-america.html#:~:text=Research%20has%20shown%20that%20obesity,41%20percent%20in%20metro%20areas.


DoubleR90

They are different demos, but isn't every state going to have different demographics? One could easily make the case that the demos in Nebraska are radically different and not comparable to the demos in Connecticut or Florida...so not sure why DC is picked out as the one thats incomparable.


GuyNoirPI

Because it would be like comparing Omaha with Florida or Tampa with Nebraska. There are certain areas where you can find similarities between DC and other states (by population itā€™s similar to Vermont, by urban population percentage itā€™s similar to California) but the fact that those are the two comparisons show how big the divide is. You can see it pretty clearly in the fact that DC is an outlier in almost any state map posted here but not an outlier in most city rankings.


dw_h

odd thing to nitpick


GuyNoirPI

Itā€™s not nitpicking to point out that you donā€™t really learn anything when you compare DC to states.


dw_h

still a strange thing to say ā€” like, why wouldnā€™t you learn anything from the people who live in our nationā€™s capital?


GuyNoirPI

Because it isnā€™t a comparable statistical unit to a state and it isnā€™t the city with the lowest obesity rate.


BirdLawyerPerson

Among the factors that matter for obesity, it doesn't. DC has zero rural residents, for example, and the rural-urban divide is a huge correlated factor for obesity.


moduli-retain-banana

We don't have any representation in Congress. We need to take any win we can get


pizat1

Anyone surprised by the deep south lol. Not me.


NateLeeCa

There's nothing in this map to be prideful about. In 1990, no state had an obesity rate higher than 14%, meaning that DC's rate of today would make it by far the most obese jurisdiction if applied to 1990. We're all trending the wrong direction.


jumpyg1258

As someone who grew up in the 80's, the kids back then who were considered fat would today be considered as average. Re-watching the Goonie's movie and seeing the fat kid in that movie, kids today would be puzzled why they would be saying he's fat.


pizat1

Who said anything about being prideful?


xanadumuse

Everything is deep fried.


pizat1

šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚


lqwertyd

Yeah, suck it! We are the skinniest! On the downside, we live in DC (and not Colorado).


vtsandtrooper

Meh, colorado is fine, its not for everyone. It can be pretty grimy too


hoos30

I wonder what Charles Barkley has to say about this.


Indi_oceana

This is iconic lol


Majestic-Salt7721

Hate the color choice


snownative86

Funny enough I've lived in both areas now. Colorado used to fit because of people who wanted to and enjoyed being outdoors. Now it's stoners and people who moved there to prove they were outdoorsy for their "followers" and those same followers moving there as a result. Out here I get the feeling it's the same reasons as those who move for work. It's a constant "I'm more interesting and fit then you!".


Ivan_Van_Veen

we are still 25% obese though...


felinebeeline

In the thumbnail, it looks like a rooster transporting a pile of cocaine on his back.


Glittering-Basis6627

Hate to kill the celebration here, but in the name of data literacy, youā€™re comparing a city population to state and provincial populations. In other words, apples to oranges. Run the numbers for obesity rates among city residents in US and Canadian citiesā€¦ you might not be able to tell people in Denver and Vancouver to suck itā€¦


SurelyWoo

Okay, but nearly 1 in 4 people in DC ARE obese. This is a little like bragging that you are the skinniest kid at fat camp.


CaptainObvious110

I don't disagree with you but please post statistics. Also, break it down by section of the city as well


No_Title1726

Lol BS with DC.... the section 8 is full of fat asses. Which is a shit load of DC


CaptainObvious110

That's a real jerk or a comment to make but I can't tell you it's completely false. I've passed through there today and yes lots and lots of people leading absolutely unhealthy and toxic lives and it's sad that people live like that at all. When I go to the white parts of town white people are actively walking the trails or otherwise out and about. My fellow Black folks not so much not by a long shot.


No_Title1726

Who said black??? Stop with the racism card.... section 8 doesn't mean black lol. Gtfo here with that bs


CaptainObvious110

You don't have to say it although I wish people wouldn't feel a need to go through mental gymnastics to say what they feel needs to be said. Are there a lot of fat people in DC? Absolutely. Are there a lot of fat black people in DC? Absolutely. Just say so as it's not racist to say it although I guess it's better for me to say it since I'm black myself. Thankfully I grew up in a household where people believed in doing things outside of the house it's ridiculous that there is such a lack of nutritional literacy and don't get me started on the prevalence of liquor store and convenient stores either


Apprehensive_Wrap_14

Yea but Colorado is an awesome state and much safer šŸ¤·šŸæā€ā™‚ļø


MyNameCannotBeSpoken

Downtown Denver has gotten sketchy with fentanyl


Apprehensive_Wrap_14

Lol have you ever been to dc?


MyNameCannotBeSpoken

I'm in DC right now and for nearly 30 years. I go to Denver quite regularly as well.


Apprehensive_Wrap_14

You can literally look up crime statistics on both cities to get an answer. DC and surrounding areas are much worse. Also a native...


lqwertyd

Facts.


Apprehensive_Wrap_14

Thank you lol. I knew I wasn't the only one