Alongside its musical footprint and booming media industry, Atlanta has a strong reputation for its authentic Southern cuisine.
Buttered biscuits smothered in sausage gravy. Salted collard greens mixed in with ham hock. Broccoli and rice casserole with melted cheddar cheese.
Rich, traditional dishes like these have helped Atlanta rank as one of the top foodie cities nationwide. It has also potentially contributed to the city landing in the top 15 of a Forbes ranking released Monday highlighting the nation’s unhealthiest populous cities.
According to the article, Atlanta is the 14th least healthy city in the U.S. The five unhealthiest cities were (in order) Detroit, Milwaukee, Memphis, Philadelphia and Tulsa. The healthiest U.S. city was San Jose, California, followed by Austin, Seattle, San Diego and Denver.
Some 46 of the most populous cities in the nation were compared based on health statistics across several factors, including percentage of adults who report binge drinking, the number of opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 residents and percentage of adults who are obese, smoke or have high blood pressure.
“In some cities, the rate of chronic disease tends to be higher due to unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as smoking, binge drinking and a lack of physical activity,” Forbes reported. “Analyses suggest that income level, education and even commuting patterns may influence why some cities are healthier than others.”
Forbes pulled the data from the City Health Dashboard, which was launched in 2018 by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Department of Population Health.
Some 11.3% of Atlanta’s adult population suffers from diabetes and roughly 33% have high blood pressure, according to the Grossman School. In terms of cause of death per 100,000 residents in Atlanta, 16% are from opioid overdose, 16.8% are from drinking and 31.4% are from obesity-related causes.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Georgia, accounting for more than 28,000 deaths a year, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
“CVD includes all diseases of the heart and blood vessels, including ischemic heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, hypertension and atherosclerosis,” according to the department’s website. “Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can also put people at a higher risk for heart disease, including diabetes, obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol use.”
The department also states that approximately 1 million people in Georgia — or 12.4% — have diabetes, with an additional 230,000 people unaware that they have it.
