Is San Angelo, Texas and the surrounding region becoming healthier? Are we developing a community-wide culture of wellness that focuses on healthy lifestyle choices?
The answers are yes, no, and not sure based on different indicators.
One healthy city indicator is the number of fitness activities that take place. Based on that indicator, the answer would be “Yes.”
Over the past 12 months, there were over 40 organized events in our area that involved cycling, running, walking, and related activities.
The answers are yes, no, and not sure based on different indicators.
One healthy city indicator is the number of fitness activities that take place. Based on that indicator, the answer would be “Yes.”
Over the past 12 months, there were over 40 organized events in our area that involved cycling, running, walking, and related activities.
In addition, the number of people who show up each day to run or walk on the KOA loop in south-west San Angelo continues to increase and more vehicles are being spotted with bike racks installed suggesting that an increased number of people are pedaling their way to fitness.
The responses to a small local survey conducted recently also provide some insight into the Healthy San Angelo question.
Only one-third of the survey respondents indicated they felt San Angelo had become a healthier city over the past 10 years, with almost 50% of the responses indicating “not sure.”
Respondents also suggested that our city had improved somewhat related to a culture of wellness, that fitness events and organized wellness programs had grown in numbers, and that area hospitals were doing more to promote wellness.
On the down side, respondents noted that fitness infrastructure and community-wide wellness planning had not improved significantly over the past 10 years and that community leaders were not engaged in promoting community wellness.
One survey comment noted that “There is a solid and supportive group of health and fitness minded individuals who actively work on a mostly grassroots level. Commitment and support from community leaders, general attitudes towards pedestrians and cyclists, and infrastructure improvements are not very good.”
The healthy community picture is also bleak if we look at our region (Tom Green County) compared to state and national data.
Data from countyhealthrankings.org shows that we rank 197th out of the 232 counties in Texas based on health behaviors such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, and excessive drinking.
Our region is more obese than the national benchmark (29% vs. 25% nationally), has more adults who smoke (25% compared to 13%), and our residents exercise less with 26% of our region physically inactive compared to 21% inactive nation-wide.
The bottom line is that we need to significantly improve the healthy lifestyle factors for our region. To make progress toward that goal, we need to study other cities that have become healthier and mimic what they have done.
The American College of Sports Medicine recently ranked the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis-St. Paul as being the healthiest and fittest cities in the nation for the 3rd straight year. That ranking was based on a matrix of health behaviors such as smoking, exercise, obesity rates, chronic health problems, access to health care, and health-enhancing environmental factors such as parks, recreational facilities, and walking trails.
Walt Thompson, a professor of exercise physiology and chairman of the advisory board that created the national American Fitness Index (http://americanfitnessindex.org/), attributes the health and fitness success of the Twin Cities region to infrastructure that supports a healthy lifestyle.
"What Minneapolis has done brilliantly is put their resources where residents can use them effectively to maintain a high level of physical activity," says Thompson. “We really believe that if people don't have the environment to exercise, they probably won't."
The AFI Community Action Guide, also published by the American Fitness Index, highlights several critical factors that positively impact health and physical activity in a community.
Those factors include having committed leadership (both figurehead and actively-engaged), a community-wide coalition with a shared vision and goals, a needs assessment, an implementation and evaluation plan, and on-going advocacy that educates decision-makers within the community.
The jury is still out on the question “Is San Angelo and the surrounding region becoming healthier”, but there are indicators that show minor progress in some areas.
A recent article by Toby Cosgrove, MD, noted that by the year 2020 half of all Americans will likely suffer from one or more chronic diseases with the majority of those health issues being weight related.
“We cannot simply control health care spending without addressing Americans’ weight”, says Dr. Cosgrove. “We have to create incentives to keep people healthy through programs that encourage wellness and prevention.”
For San Angelo to move forward and become focused on wellness and prevention, we’ll need a community-wide wellness coalition, a comprehensive ‘Healthy City’ plan, funding to implement that plan, and – most importantly – leadership from our top elected and appointed officials.
Maybe, just maybe, we’ll reach the point someday where our city council members bicker about not having fitness and wellness items on the council’s meeting agenda.
Upcoming Events
- July 27: Goodfellow Traithlon, roadlizards.org
- Aug 1: Road bike time trial, sanangelobicycleassociation.com
- Aug 15: Mountain bike time trial, sanangelobicycleassociation.com
- Aug 24: Armydillo 10K and 2-mile, roadlizards.org
- Sept 5: Road Bike time trial, sanangelobicycleassociation.com
- Sept 7: Comanche Warrior triathlon, visitbigspring.com/pages/comanchewarriortriathlon
- Sept 7: Let It Go 5K, roadlizards.org
- Sept 14: Run to Remember, angelo.edu/asufit
