“Your mayor, city council and city manager has just as much of an impact on your health as your doctor,” say the authors of a new report. “Most people spend a few hours a year in the doctor’s office. The other 364 days out of the year, people are in the care of their city.” On Friday, during the opening night of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting in Boston, 24 cities will be awarded for their work in population health. The gold medalists are Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Jose, Calif. Nine cities earned a silver medal, and 11 earned a bronze.
The cities were each judged on nine policy areas: affordable housing, alcohol regulations, walkability, paid sick leave, food safety, healthy food options, universal pre-K, smoke-free places and the smoking age.
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