New fitness survey ranks San Diego region 14th

San Diego may not quite qualify as America’s Fittest City, but the region is definitely in the hunt, according to figures newly released from the American College of Sports Medicine.

The group’s sixth annual report “evaluates the preventive health behaviors, levels of chronic disease conditions, health care access and community resources and policies that encourage healthy and fit lifestyles,” along with providing benchmarks to call attention to areas needing improvement.

The San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area, which was among 50 ranked nationwide, scored a 61.3 on a 100-point scale, up almost 3 points from last year and enough to bump 2012’s #16 ranking two spots, making San Diego the 14th fittest city according to the College.

While ranking high on personal health behavior and access to health care, the region 17th-place rankings on items such as community planning, access to recreational facilities, and spending on parks lowered the overall score.

For the third consecutive year, the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota area topped the fit cities list with a 76.4 score.