That Happened!

New York - The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has put together a report that has chosen Burlington, Vermont as the nation’s healthiest city. The report shows that a large number of the cities residents are in good health. The CDC also discovered that the residents of Burlington have low levels of obesity and diabetes.

In the report, Burlington was one of the top cities with people who exercised regularly. Many of the city’s residents participate in skiing, bicycling, hiking, and many other exercises that help them to stay fit and active.

Burlington, Vermont’s population is also well-educated. Close to 40% of Burlington’s residents have college degrees. About 15% of the population in the least healthy city, Huntington, West Virginia, have college degrees.

On the other side of the report was Huntington, West Virginia which earned the title of most unhealthy city in the US.

According to the CDC, 50 percent of the cities population are obese.  22% suffer from heart disease and 13% have diabetes and 50 percent of seniors have lost all their teeth.

“A lot of the patients we were seeing were getting heart attacks in their 30s. They were requiring open heart surgery in their 30s. And we were concerned because it used to be you wouldn’t see heart patients come in until they were in their 50s,” said Shari Wiley is a nurse at St. Mary’s Regional Heart Institute in Huntington.

The report also found that 31 percent of the population do not exercise and 19 percent sit at the nations poverty line.

“It doesn’t come up,” said Huntington mayor David Felinton who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 233 pounds. “We’ve got a lot of economic challenges here in Huntington. That’s usually the focus.”

Many people who want to be healthier can learn a few things from this city. The first thing you should do is be more active. One of the reasons Burlington was named the healthiest city is because its residents are very active. It’s a good idea to choose a physical activity that you will enjoy doing such as hiking or bicycling.

The most important thing you should do is eat healthier foods. In Burlington, low income residents are able to buy healthy foods because the city has grocery stores that sell affordable food.

Combining a good exercise routine and healthy diet will help you to live a healthy lifestyle just like many of the residents of Burlington, Vermont.