ENFIELD, CT – According to a study by BarBend.com, which claims to be “the world’s leading strength training resource and news outlet,” Enfield is among the fittest cities in Connecticut ranking in 54th position with an overall fitness score of 79.64.

Other towns such as Old Greenwich was in first place with a fitness score of 83.56. While South Windsor rank in 15th position with an 80.85 fitness score and Hazardville in the 44th position having a fitness score of 79.91. The full Connecticut results can be found here: https://barbend.com/fit-cities-connecticut/.

“We are really trying to continually improve everyone’s health and happiness from ages 1-99. We want people to be able to look into living in our town and raising a family,” said Mayor of Enfield Michael Ludwick. “From a perspective of health and wellness, a lot of folks walk their dogs in town and there are many medical offices and services, so we have a pretty good proximity for people to stay healthy. We’re trying to do a bunch of quality of life activities in town to give residents different options.”

The project began as a national study looking at the top 150 cities nationwide.

Leader Max Whiteside of the Community Outreach team at BarBend said, “The data was pulled from 11 different publicly available sources looking at exercise opportunities, access to healthy foods, drinking water quality and several other factors. All of those combined gave us a fit score and we used that fit score to rank each city.”

He went on to say, “When looking at population, physical inactivity, healthy food access, obesity, air pollution, smoking, drinking and physical distress that all put together gave Enfield  their fit score which ranked them as the number 54th best city for fit lifestyles.”

In making the list, BarBend looked at every community in the state and had a minimum population of 5,000 and viewed at the factors they used to calculate the fit score.

“Connecticut was a highly competitive state,” Whiteside replied. “There’s not a whole lot of difference between number 1, 15 and 54 when it comes to fit scores. Everybody performed well.”

Enfield has a high rate of exercise opportunities at 970 (per 1,000 people) suggesting that the surrounding environment could play a key role in determining people’s fitness level.

In addition to the study, Enfield was found to have comparatively low levels of air pollution (2.66), low rates of physical inactivity (210), obesity (260) and smoking (130).

According to the CHR’s county health ranking model, “Individuals who live closer to sidewalks, parks and gyms are more likely to exercise. Therefore, access to exercise opportunities is crucial in maintaining a healthy population. Additionally, residents who live in neighborhoods with access to grocery stores that allow them to obtain healthy foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, are more likely to have healthier diets than those who do not have access to these kinds of supermarkets.”

Through a pandemic, Enfield has redesigned a court where senior citizens played pickleball.

Enfield also offers a variety of social and mental health programs both in the schools and through the town. They have a senior center, a library that provides programs for children, shopping centers and culture and arts.

The town participates in the National Day of Play, a number of youth organizations for various different sports such as lacrosse.

“Enfield is a unique location where the Scantic River State Park is used for recreation. I’ve been here my whole life and we’re a very welcoming town,” Ludwick replied. “We’re developing a diverse population by integrating people and getting them involved in community activities. We provide a great deal for everyone’s kind of taste and what they really like to do in their lives.”

In learning about the pandemic, Ludwick spoke candidly, sharing the willingness residents displayed to help and volunteer, and was shown in residents looking out for their neighbors, which Ludwick said happens every single day. “When trying to have goodness in your heart, usually things take care of themselves. We’re going to come out of this stronger than ever and excited about the future.”