McAllen MSA Ranked 4th Among Cities with Healthiest Diets
Written by Post Public Information Representative, May 5, 2019, Comments Off
City of McAllen well on its way to getting residents on the right track
Courtesy Xochitl Mora,
(McAllen, Texas)-Vegetables, fruits, lean protein, water and dairy, hooray! It’s all about making healthy dietary choices and, according to a recent Gallup and Sharecare’s Community Rankings for Healthy Eating report, the McAllen MSA ranked 4th out of 40 cities across the U.S. with healthiest diets.
“After being ranked as one of the fattest MSAs in America, it’s comforting to see that our residents are on the right path to making better choices,” said McAllen Mayer Jim Darling, an avid cyclist and fitness enthusiast, hoping to inspire residents to make health and wellness a priority. “As a city, we’d like to give residents the best opportunities to develop healthy habits.”
To identify the 40 cities with the healthiest diets, 24/7 Tempo reviewed Gallup and Sharecare’s 2016 Community Rankings for Healthy Eating Report. Researchers selected the 40 metro areas — of the 189 reviewed in the report — where the highest share of adults reported eating a healthy diet all day. The share of the population living more than a mile from a grocery store also came from the report.
McAllen had just over 72% of the respondents in the survey report they ate a healthy diet all day.
Knowing what exactly what healthy food choices to make, as well as income, play a major role in people’s food choices, according to Dan Witters, research director for the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index.
In fact, having a lower income is one of the most challenging factors to eat healthy, but a healthy diet is possible to do on a budget. “McAllen, Texas, one of America’s poorest cities, regularly ranks among the very best in healthy eating,” Witters writes in his report. This “provides us a good illustration of how local communities can overcome demographic handicaps.”
Educational programs and community gardens are some of the ways that contribute to healthy eating, regardless of the hurdles.
