Trenton metro: 18th-healthiest city!

TRENTON — Forget Burlington, Vt.

If you live in Trenton or Ewing, and want to live in one of the healthiest metro areas in the country, stay right where you are.

According to a Metro Health Index posted on the Internet on Wednesday, the Trenton-ewing area ranks 18th of 315 metro areas studied, sandwiched between Fort Collins/loveland, Colo., and Burlington, Vt.

The findings were posted by Richard Florida, senior editor at The Atlantic and director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Florida, with the help of institute colleague Charlotta Mellander, developed the health index based on two key Centers for Disease Control indicators: the level of smoking and obesity. Smoking and obesity comprise two of the most significant health problems confronting American citizens and other advanced industrial nations today, he wrote.

Each year, about 443,000 Americans die from smoking-related diseases; some 300,000 premature deaths are attributed to obesity. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that smoking and obesity combined generate annual health costs of more than $300 billion, Florida said.

The Metro Health Index measures the share of people who smoke or are obese; the higher the score on the index, the lower the rates of smoking and obesity, and the better a metro’s health outlook. Smoking is measured as the percentage of the population who are regular smokers. Obesity is measured as the percent of the population with a Body Mass Index of 30 or more.

The Trentonian posted the health index findings on its Facebook page, and commenters were largely skeptical.

“Must mean Trenton, Florida,” said Lili Temple.

Steve Clayton wrote: “lol I retired from the state and got out of jersey and moved to Florida best thing I did to get out of jersey.”

To see the report, go to http:// www.theatlanticcities.com /arts-and-life-style/2012/01/ healthiest-metros / 367 /# slide19"