The online media kit for the ACSM American Fitness Index™ is now available. Kit contents include the May 29 news release, fact sheet, a list of local metro area experts and more.

Go to the media kit now!

San Francisco bested Seattle as the fittest of America’s most populous metropolitan areas, according to the ACSM American Fitness Index™ (AFI), a new program and report released on May 29, 2008, by ACSM in partnership with the WellPoint Foundation.

The metropolitan rankings included in the report are (includes rank, MSA name/nickname and score):

1. San Francisco, Calif. (Bay Area) – 403
2. Seattle, Wa. (Seattle Metro) – 401
3. Boston, Mass. (Greater Boston) – 370
4. Washington D.C. (Washington Metro) – 369
5. Atlanta, Ga. (Metro Atlanta) – 285
6. Philadelphia, Pa. (Delaware Valley) – 268
7. Chicago, Ill. (Chicagoland) – 267
8. Dallas, Texas (Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex) – 261
9. New York City (Tri-State Region) – 260
10. Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (South Florida Metro) – 235
11. Phoenix, Ariz. (Valley of the Sun) – 233
12. Indianapolis, Ind. (Greater Indianapolis) – 231
13. Houston, Texas (Greater Houston) – 209
14. Los Angeles, Calif. (Greater Los Angeles) – 208
15. Riverside, Calif. (Inland Empire) – n/a
16. Detroit, Mich. (Detroit Metro) – 149

The inaugural data report, “Health and Community Fitness Status of 16 Large Metropolitan Areas,” is a snapshot of the state of health and fitness in America’s 15 most populous metropolitan areas, plus Greater Indianapolis.*

Read more about the AFI launch here or download the data report.

*As the headquarters of ACSM and host city for this year’s Annual Meeting, Indianapolis was included in the rankings. Greater Indianapolis is the 33rd largest MSA and also headquarters for WellPoint, Inc.

The first installment of AFI Update, the enewsletter of the ACSM American Fitness Index is now available. To view a PDF version, click here. AFI Update will keep you updated on major happenings with the AFI initiative, highlight best practices, report on partner news and more.

If you would like AFI Update sent to your inbox monthly, please send an email to rniehaus@acsm.org.

Want to be one among the first organizations to support the ACSM American Fitness Index™ initiative?!? Then contact ACSM today to be part of this exciting, new signature program.

Your support will be recognized at the ACSM Annual Meeting taking place May 28-31, 2008, in Indianapolis. At that time, ACSM will release the ACSM American Fitness Index Report, which analyzes key data to give a data-driven snapshot of health status at the metropolitan level across the nation.

We ask your organization to support these guiding principles of the program:

• Exercise and physical activity are key to good health and the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases, as well as the enhanced health of communities overall.
• Physical activity and exercise must be consistently addressed in community settings.
• Support ACSM’s efforts to bring a greater focus on physical activity and exercise in community settings.

Support communities interested in connecting and partnering with organizations and existing programs to collaborate on physical activity/healthy lifestyle initiatives.

Invited organizations must confirm their support of the program no later than May 19 to be acknowledged at the Annual Meeting launch event. In addition, all organizations that choose to support the principles will be listed on www.americanfitnessindex.org, which will be launched prior to May 29.

Please contact Brenda Chamness at (bchamness@acsm.org) with your support by Thursday, May 19.