Are we fitter than the rest of the state?

Some fitness fun facts collected for you by the good people at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Reaserch. Feel free to wow your friends with them on the trails this weekend.

Marin has more very active people and fewer totally sedentary
people than the rest of California. Nearly 50% of Marin county residents are
active for at least an hour, five or more days every week (compared to only 40%
for the rest of the state). We also have fewer people who are not active for at
least an hour even once a week (5% versus 12%).  This means finding a workout buddy should be a piece of err..whole wheat bread. 

We have amazing parks and open space and we know it! Eighty-six
percent of Marinites visited a park or open space in the past month, while only
70% of other Californians did. Parks are free (or inexpensive) and great for your
mental and physical health. So if you are in the 14% who didn’t visit a park,
what are you waiting for?

But is there someone to play with? Most of Marin residents (67%)
say they usually or always have someone to relax with. Unfortunately that means
that over 30% of you don’t have someone readily available to join you for a stroll
or picnic. If you are looking for people to enjoy an activity with, websites
such as meetup.com can be helpful.  You can join groups of almost any interest you can think of from Bird Watchers for Obama to Hindu Hikers. Another good option is to pick up a phone and call a friend. I bet you’ll both be glad you did.

We love to be vigorous! Marin resident don’t just like to be move,
they like to move vigorously! Over 22% of us prefer a hard and sweaty workout,
versus just 18% of people in the rest of the state.  

All that vigorous (and moderate) activity must be helping because Marin
residents are much less likely to be overweight.  Over half (51%) have a normal weight, versus 41% for the rest of the state.  Far fewer people are overweight/obese in these parts as well (47%), compared to 57% for the
rest of the state.

All of these statistics are important, but the most important number
is still number 1. What you doing to stay healthy and fit?

Heather Robinson is the Manager and Fitness Director at Get In Shape for Women in Corte Madera and Mill Valley, CA.  Heather and specializes in helping real women achieve full body transformations through an integrated fitness, nutrition and wellness coaching program.

Source: 2009 California Health Intervew Survey (http://www.chis.ucla.edu)

Source: 2009 California Health
  Interview Survey