Phoenix, Tucson fall toward bottom of nation’s fattest cities

PHOENIX — Arizona’s two largest cities scored well when it comes to residents’ weights.

WalletHub found that Phoenix and Tucson fell toward the bottom in a ranking of the top 100 fattest cities in the country for 2019.

The Phoenix metro area, which includes Scottsdale and Mesa, was ranked No. 69, while Tucson came in at No. 77.

WalletHub focused on 19 metrics, with an emphasis on a city’s share of overweight adults, obese adults and projected obesity rates by 2030.

Phoenix came it at No. 74 in the “obesity and overweight” category, which accounted for 60 percent of a city’s final ranking.

The other two main categories — “health consequences” and “food and fitness” — saw Phoenix finish No. 55 and No. 58, respectively.

“Health consequences” includes metrics like a city’s share of adults with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. “Food and fitness” includes metrics such as a city’s share of adults with low fruit/vegetable consumption and residents who say they eat healthy.

Tucson wasn’t far behind, ranking No. 85 in “obesity and overweight,” No. 42 in “health consequences rank” and No. 84 in “food and fitness rank.”

Some more good news for Tucson — it was among the bottom five cities for percentage of adults with high blood pressure.

The McAllen, Texas metro area was ranked as the fattest city in the U.S., while Shreveport, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi; and Mobile, Alabama, rounded out the top five.

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