Bostonians take pride in being on the forefront of all things good. Too general a statement? Well, how about this: Bostonians realize that two aspects of a healthy lifestyle, being active and catching up on the recommended amount of sleep, are not only fun and refreshing to do but something we collectively do pretty well. At least, that’s what the data says.
According to data released by Jawbone – a developer of mobile tech devices and software systems like its UP fitness tracker, a bracelet that syncs with your mobile device in real-time to track exercise goals and achievements – Boston ranks highly in terms of activity and sleep.
Jawbone conducted a survey of more than 5,000 UP users in over 45 cities worldwide and in the United States to aggregate data to determine which city, on average, takes the most steps and catches the most z’s.
The chart above is specific to sleep time and the cities of Melbourne, Australian and Tokyo, Japan were chosen as juxtapositions because that is where people get the most and least sleep on average, respectively.
As you can see, Tokyo residents receive an average of just 344 minutes of sleep per night, equating to about 5 hours and 44 minutes. In Australia, that number skyrockets to 418 minutes – or 6 hours and 58 minutes – just shy of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommendeation of 7 hours.
As for activity, Bostonians are on the move more so than any other city surveyed in the U.S. except for New York, which may be slightly skewed considering they have a population that’s more than ten times Boston’s. Boston takes a collective average of 8471 steps in a day, only slightly higher than Melbourne and Tokyo.
The data also shows that Boston runs laps around cities like Miami, Phoenix, Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Now, keep in mind that Boston’s climate doesn’t reach the heat levels of any of those cities, each with a collective average of less than 7,000 steps. So yes, the heat could certainly pose a challenge in this instance, but then, Boston is basically buried under snow for almost half the year.
Through all of this it’s important to remember that the survey findings were based solely of UP users and don’t necessarily encapsulate the sentiments of every major metropolitan area. Still, though, it’s a good indication that Bostonians especially are apt to leading healthy lifestyles.
Think the data is a bunch of bullshit? Completely agree with how much your city sleeps and is active? Leave your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below.
Image via Shutterstock/ Ljupco Smokovski
