3 Indiana cities make list of ten 'unhealthiest' US towns

In its third annual survey, SELF, a women's health and fitness magazine, has dubbed Indianapolis the second unhealthiest city, with South Bend, sixth, and Gary, 10th, following shortly thereafter.\nMeg D'incecco, from SELF magazine's public relations department, said the survey encompassed a large number of areas affecting women, but that the Indiana cities failed the survey because of the general health of the female population.\n"In this survey, we took the 200 largest metropolitan areas in the country and looked at statistics from violent crime, rapes per minute, exercise time, number of toxic sites in the area. So just in general a very, very wide range of lists that we got from an advisory board of experts," D'incecco said.\nIn the study, Gary had a low number of rape cases and relatively low alcohol consumption," D'incecco said. According to survey statistics, Gary females consumed two fewer drinks per month than the survey average. On the other hand, the average Body Mass Index (BMI) for Gary was 26.5. Anything over 25.0 is overweight, according to the Center for Disease Control.\nThe survey found that South Bend's positives were that the city has a relatively low suicide and depression rate and the city is above average for the number of health clubs for the population. On the downside, South Bend women averaged only 25 minutes of exercise per day, while the survey average was 34 minutes. Also, women's health care for the city was extremely bad, according to the survey. To determine this the magazine compared the number of people with insurance, the access women have to see a specialty doctor, the number of hospital beds in the city, the number of mental health care professionals and among other things.\nDespite such a low ranking, Indianapolis actually had very high rankings in the number of insured women and a relatively low unemployment rate. D'incecco said the latter criterion was important because jobs generally help to increase the quality of life for people.\n"When women are employed, they have income, which allows them to pay for health clubs, insurance, and they usually wind up having a greater opportunity to have and live a healthy life," said D'incecco.\nIndianapolis had a high number of smokers and high rates and statistics for sexually transmitted diseases, D'incecco said.\n"This was a very important criterion for us to look at," she said. "With this area, we wanted to make sure we let women know about these areas, so if they live there and didn't know, they would find out, be knowledgable and know they need to take more precautions to protect themselves."\nGonorrhea and syphilis rates for the city are nearly five times the national average, according to the magazine. \n"Although the number of sexually transmitted disease cases has been high in Indianapolis in the past years, the Stomp Out Syphilis program has helped to lower not only syphilis numbers, but also gonorrhea and other diseases, John Althardt from the Marion County Health Department said.\n"Several years ago, the Center for Disease Control said Indianapolis had the highest per capita STD cases in the nation," Althardt said. "What we look at is the pure numbers because those are individuals. They are not percentages or numbers, but they are individuals."\nThe program's success, Althardt said, has come from the comminties work to tackle this program. "We've gone to the neighborhoods where we know have a large number of cases, and used one-on-one contact with the residents thanks to help from the community," he said. "It takes time for the building of relationships and trust and a community wide approach. We have to have the support of the business owners and the clergy to help spread our message. We've had a multi-faceted approach, so we've been able to see our numbers come down."\nOver the past few years, Indianapolis has been touted as one of the heaviest cities in America. For 2002, Natural Health magazine named Indianapolis runner up for fattest city, while Men's Fitness put the city at tenth.\nCurrently, the national statistic of obese persons -- people with a Body Mass Index greater than or equal to 30 -- is at 20.1%, according to the Web site for the Center for Disease Control. Indiana's obesity rate for men and women combined is at 21.8%, almost two points higher than the national average.\nThe Indiana Governor's Council for Physical Fitness and Sports was created by Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon to recognize a person's dedication to fitness and to challenge people to strive for better health. The council delegates its time towards the creation and recognition of health conscious opportunities in the community.\n"We are working with several different partners that you might not think of as public health partners; the Indiana Department of Transportation, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Environmental Management and other agencies that deal with creating an environment that encourages physical activity," said Casey McIntire, executive director of the council. "The things we are trying to do are to point out and create biking routes, use non-motorized transportation on these routes, and make sure existing sidewalks meet (standards). We want to create environments that allow people to be active and…encourage people to try to incorporate more physical activity back into their lives"