Be trim like him: George W. Bush, also a Texan

Dallas, June 25 (Reuters): Hey Texans, step away from that barbecue buffet, step out of your pick-up trucks and into a health club because your mayors don’t like seeing so much fat.

Men’s Fitness magazine early this year ranked three Texas cities as being among the metropolitan areas with the fattest people in the US, and five Texas cities were in the magazine’s top 10. Mayors in these Lone Star cities think Texas-sized may not be a compliment when it comes to weight, and have launched efforts to get citizens to shed pounds.

Houston was ranked by the magazine as the second-fattest city in 2004 — a slight slip from its top ranking in 2003. Dallas came it at third, San Antonio was fourth, Fort Worth was sixth and Arlington number eight.

The mayors are going belly to belly to see which one of their cities will win the battle to decrease the bulge. The magazine ranked cities on 14 factors such as the number of health clubs and sporting goods stores per 100,000 people, Centers for Disease Control figures on obesity and sedentary behaviour, commuting times, the total numbers of pizza, ice cream and doughnut shops per 100,000 people and TV watching.

Detroit was the fattest US city, according to the magazine.

It said there are some factors that make it difficult for Texas cities to move down the list such as a hot and humid climate that make outdoor activity about as enjoyable as playing tennis in a sauna. But some other factors are easy to correct, such as cutting down on the large amount of time Texans spend watching TV and saying no to junk food.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas ranked sixth in the country in 2001 with 23.8 per cent of its population classified as obese compared to a national average of 20.9 per cent. Mississippi topped the list at 25.9 per cent.

Houston, the home of highways jammed with pick-up trucks, has said enough is enough. In 2002 former Houston mayor Lee Brown appointed a fitness czar and launched a campaign called “Get Lean Houston”.

The mayor backed up his words with a personal weight loss programme in which he dropped nine kg. The city pressed for its schools to serve more nutritious meals, asked McDonald’s to create leaner offerings and encouraged its citizens to exercise.

The reward for Houston and its thinned-down former mayor came when Men’s Fitness took Houston out of its top spot as the fattest US city this year and moved it to number two on the list.

Mike Moncrief, mayor of Fort Worth, and Robert Cluck, mayor of Arlington, have challenged each other to a walking duel to see who can cover the greatest distance on foot for a week. The loser must wear a T-shirt emblazoned with a phrase praising the neighbouring city.

“Big D” is the nickname for Dallas and the “D” obviously does not stand for “dieting” as the Texas city has moved up the list in recent years to become the third-fattest city in the US.

With much fanfare, Dallas mayor Laura Miller donned workout clothes, hiked a path through the city and announced earlier this year a campaign called “Lighten Up Big D!” She challenged the city to drop weight and drop more ranking spots on the list than Houston.

Peter Sikowitz, editor-in-chief of Men’s Fitness, said the rankings have been taken as a wake-up call by many cities, especially in Texas. “There are problems in Texas, and, as we know, bigger is not necessarily better,” he said.