The West Coast may be where it's at when it comes to looking and feeling young, according to findings from RealSelf. See how your city stacks up!
To take a deeper look at the trend, major US cities were ranked based on more than a dozen of the major factors cited by RealSelf doctors to impact the aging process of the body and skin-including sun exposure, smoking, stress, access to dermatologists, fitness centers, and more.
Known for being wellness-obsessed, San Francisco tops the list, with high scores for having residents who eat healthfully, are physically fit and hyper-concerned with their skin's appearance.
Sunny San Diego has high rates of melanoma (29 cases per 100,000 people each year), but the city also benefits from having a high concentration of dermatologists per capita (4 per 100,000 people).
Similarly, the walkable, bike-friendly city of Portland, OR, is home to a high number of fitness centers per capita, but also ranks highly for bars.
To compile the list, RealSelf measured a number of factors directly correlated with looking and feeling youthful, weighted by impact on aging and overall physical health. Criteria included:
- Sunexposure and skin cancer rates
- Physical fitness, disease rates and access to fresh, nutritious food
- Stress, smoking and sleep
- Gyms and athletic clubs (per capita)
- Bars (per capita)
- Tanning salons (per capita)
- Spending on anti-aging
- Interest in Botox (searches on RealSelf)
- Board certified dermatologists (per capita)
The list doesn't name the city that will age you the fastest, but it's worth noting that state capital Charleston, WV has the most tanning salons per capita, residents get the least amount of sleep and the city ranks 4th for smoking the most cigarettes.
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