Houston loses 'Fat City' title

2004-01-03 20:51

Houston - The state of Texas has the most overweight people in the United States, according to a report in the US magazine Men's Fitness.

Among the eight American cities with the most overweight inhabitants, Texas has five.

The city of Houston, however, had to relinquish the dubious honour of being "The Fattest City in the US" to Detroit in the state of Michigan, which won first place in 2003.

Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Arlington are the other Texas cities tipping the scales in the top ten.

The slimmest cities in the US were also tallied with Honolulu (Hawaii) coming first, followed by San Francisco (California), Virginia Beach (Virginia) and Denver (Colorado).

Men's Fitness publishes its results early every year, and although the poll claims no scientific validity, the list is taken quite seriously in the US

In Houston, the "fattest city" epithet last year triggered a wave of fitness fever which even spread to health services and city administration.

Then mayor of Houston, Lee Brown, took part in a "get fit" programme and himself lost several kilos, before piling them back on, rumours have it.

In addition to official health statistics, the publication includes the number of fast food restaurants, amusement parks and fitness centres for its study factors.

According to Texas health officials in the state capital, Austin, more than 6% of the state's inhabitants are losing the battle against obesity. - Sapa-DPA

- SAPA