San Jose folks apparently are a healthy bunch, so much so that The Atlantic ranked the city as the most healthy metropolitan area in the nation.
If Santa Cruz had a smaller percentage of smokers, it could have beaten San Jose for the No. 1 spot.
The rankings were calculated by Richard Florida, The Atlantic columnist and director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto, based on the level of smoking and obesity in 315 regions using data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency estimates that smoking and obesity generate health costs exceeding $300 billion a year.
Obesity is measured by body mass index, a metric calculation based on height and weight and 30 signifies obese. You can do your own calculation at www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/.
Santa Cruz’s share of smokers is 11 percent, and its share of obesity is 18 percent.
San Jose’s share of obesity is 19.1 percent, but its share of smokers is 9.8 percent.
Coastal California fared quite well, with Napa, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo County, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, Salinas and San Diego in the top 15.
Florida noted a positive correlation between a metro area’s health index and its populations of creative workers, tech-industry workers, gays and Hispanics.
The top 10
1. San Jose
2. Santa Cruz
3. Boulder, Colo.
4. Napa
5. Bend, Ore.
6. San Francisco
7. Stamford, Conn.
8. San Luis Obispo
9. Corvallis, Ore.
10. Los Angeles
