HEALTHY CITIES
C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.
During one of my radio programs (Thursdays, 2:07 PM, CT, radiospringfield.com), at a newsbreak, I learned that Springfield, MO has the dubious distinction of being the 4th sleepiest city in the country. Shocked, I searched the internet and learned that, based on prescriptions for sleep drugs, Springfield is indeed number 4 and Charleston, WV is number one. Interestingly, the actual differences in the top 50 cities are relatively small, a tenth of a percent or so here and there. But there are many other interesting stats, available at The Daily Beast::
- Yonkers, NY is the most caffeinated city in the U.S.
- Detroit is the 100th least caffeinated city
- Fremont, CA spends more money on cola than any other
- Fremont, CA spends more money on coffee than any other
- San Jose, CA has the overall healthiest health score
- New Orleans has the lowest health score, BUT
- Lincoln , Nebraska has the greatest percentage of people who rate their health as good (92.8%), whereas:
- Huntington, WV has the lowest % of those who say they are healthy (68.8%)
- New York is number 158 in % of people who say they are healthy, etc, etc
We have long known that the average age of death in most large cities is 7 years younger than those who live in rural areas. And we know that those who have life-long serious depression die 35 years earlier than those who are “autonomous” or self-actualized. To a huge extent, health is largely the result of attitude, which determines health habits. Ultimately, the choice is yours!
