Southwest Pa. Is Safe, Prosperous — Struggles With Poor Air Quality, Obesity, Report Finds

Southwestern Pennsylvania has low unemployment, a plethora of high school and college graduates and relatively safe streets, but residents are more likely to smoke cigarettes and be overweight compared to a group other major U.S. metro areas, according to a University of Pittsburgh report released Wednesday.

The “2015 Pittsburgh Today & Tomorrow Report” from Pitt’s University Center for Social and Urban Research compared 11 quality-of-life factors in Southwestern Pennsylvania to 14 other metro areas.

Researchers found that while the region “continues to be a national model for economic recovery and public safety, the region still has major deficiencies in overcoming issues related to the environment, infrastructure, public health, and other matters that are key to the quality of life for most Americans.”

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/8130203-74/percent-residents-report#ixzz3WjladgL5
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The Most Obese Counties In New Jersey And Pennsylvania

A sweeping new report on Americans’ health from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations evaluates how we fare in life expectancy, obesity, physical activity and other markers of well-being. Obesity rates have been climbing for years, and here, we take a look at the most obese counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as of 2011.

Nationwide, 33.8 percent of men and 36.1 percent of women are obese.  State averages are 32.6 percent men and 32.2 percent of women in New Jersey and 35.3 percent of men and 37.6 percent of women in Pennsylvania.

To see the county lists, read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillylists/The-most-obese-counties-in-Pa-and-NJ.html#LPoTHzPpiCY79q35.99