Houston has been deemed the fattest city in the United States and Seattle took the title of fittest in a survey released Thursday by Men's Fitness magazine.
Houston displaced Detroit as the fattest city while Philadelphia, which was seventh in the previous survey, jumped to No. 2. Detroit was third followed by Memphis -- a huge leap from No. 20 -- and Chicago, which stayed at No. 5.
Men's Fitness said that Houston is no stranger to the fattest city title, having taken that title in 2001, 2002 and 2003 before moving to No. 2 last year.
The magazine accused Houstonians of playing far less sports than last year and watching more television than most Americans. It also cited government statistics that list 23 percent of the city's residents as clinically obese and about 62 percent are considering overweight.
Men's Fitness determined that Seattle moved from sixth to first among the fittest cities, dropping Honolulu, last year's fittest, to No. 2. Colorado Springs, San Francisco and Denver -- all top five fittest cities last time around -- completed the top five.
This was the seventh year Men's Fitness scored the 50 largest U.S. cities in a series of categories, including the number of fitness clubs, health-food stores, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on weight; number of fast-food outlets and television viewing.
The complete rankings can be found on the Internet at mensfitness.com/rankings/304.
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