The ACSM American Fitness Index: Using Data to Identify Opportunities to Support Physical Activity

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since 2008, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) American Fitness Index program has provided data, materials, resources, and connections to help city officials, public health professionals, and community-based organizations assess the fitness of their residents, identify opportunities to improve health outcomes, and enable physically active lifestyles. The purpose of this article was to describe the development and methods used to create the annual scores and rankings for the Fitness Index. Fitness Index indicators were originally selected by ACSM content experts and other nationally recognized fitness experts who understood the importance of community assets to improve health behaviors and outcomes. Indicator values for the 100 largest US cities were gathered from reputable, regularly updated, publicly available data sources. Indicator values for the cities were ranked, weighted, and combined into a personal health subscore, a community/environment subscore, and a total score that were then ranked from the most fit (rank 1) to least fit (rank 100) cities. Fitness Index indicators are reviewed by ACSM content experts and updated annually to ensure the Fitness Index stays true to its goal. Strengths of the Fitness Index include the use of multiple indicators related to the health and behaviors of residents as well as community assets and policies. Some data limitations for the Fitness Index include sample variability from year to year, use of self-reported survey data with well-known biases and variability, and lack of availability of important data indicators. The annual summary report suggests how these rankings and data can be translated into action within cities. Additional resources for the American Fitness Index, including an interactive tool that allows comparison of indicator values among cities, are available online.