As if us men don’t have enough to worry about, Men’s Health has just published their annual rankings of the
best and worst American cities in which to live if you’re a male (my apologies to Gadling’s female
readers who may want to head on over here while us dudes chat about dude
stuff).
The magazine’s editors have developed an intricate formula which reveals the very best places to live, and
not to live, based upon factors such as prostate cancer occurrence, diabetes, body-mass index, heart disease, diabetes,
and other health related indicators.
Topping this year’s list is San Francisco. No surprise here. The city’s fit-conscious
lifestyle as well as its impressive variety of foods (vegetarian, health food, and scores of farmers’ markets),
makes for the ideal, healthy combination.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you live in Charleston, WV it’s time to move. Men’s Health
rates in the West Virginia capital are the unhealthiest in America thanks to horrible scores for lung cancer, colon
cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and apparently the ubiquitous presence of some junk food chain called Biscuit
World. Having the worst male suicide rate didn’t help its ratings either.
Men’s Health also reveals which cities ranked the very worst for particular ailments. Montgomery,
Alabama, for example, has the highest percent of diabetes among men, and, no surprise here, the heaviest males as
well. New York ranks the worst in heart disease, Durham, NC for high blood pressure, and Louisville has the
highest rates of colon cancer. And then there is Norfolk, Virginia which leads the pack in both lung cancer
occurrence and prostrate cancer (lay off the cigarettes, dummies!).
Hey, is it just me or are all these death-traps, with the exception of New York, Red States?