Two Israeli cities make world’s top 20 healthiest – Tel Aviv ranks 6th

Tel Aviv ranks 6th, Haifa 12th, with longevity, sunlight, good food and health facilities.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

It may be one of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, but it turns out that Tel Aviv is also ranked right up there with the best as the world’s sixth healthiest city to live in, the London-based financial services website Money.co.uk reported this month.

Its residents are slim, they live longer and have access to good health care, crime is lower and along with Haifa, which ranked 12th, the two Israeli cities have the tops in annual sunlight hours as well.

“Our mortgage experts rank the healthiest countries and cities in the world, with good food, good company and good transport links all being great for the people who live there,” wrote Money.co.uk reporter Salman Haqqi.

The website checked out several key factors that combined together give a picture of how healthy a lifestyle residents can expect including average life expectancy, what the local obesity and pollution levels are, how much health care costs.

Remember that old saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’? The study also checked the price for a kilogram of apples, giving an indication of the cost of fresh produce.

With its number six position out of the 40 cities ranked, residents of Tel Aviv can be expected to live to the ripe old average age of 82.8 years. Tel Aviv might be expensive, but the report noted the city has lots of active space with parks, outdoor gyms, and bicycle paths to go with those maximum hours of sunshine.

Top spots went to the Spanish city of Valencia, followed by the capital city of Madrid, Lisbon in Portugal, the Austrian capital Vienna and Canberra in Australia ranked higher than Tel Aviv, with Tokyo, The Hague, Ljubljana’s capital Slovenia and Zurich rounding out the top 10.

Israel’s northern port city of Haifa, an industrial city, navy port and home to two universities, took the 12th place ranking, with almost the same numbers, but ranked lower apparently due to the higher air pollution there.

Although overall Israel didn’t rank in the top 20 healthiest countries, the report noted that the U.S. is one of the least healthy countries with one of the world’s highest obesity ratings, placing it 153 out of 166 countries on the obesity index.

“The most prevalent difference between countries like Spain and Japan to the U.S. is the relationship towards food,” the report said.

“Many of the healthiest countries on our index have a greater respect toward food, and treat meal times as a chance to create a social and loving environment. This contrasts greatly to the fast paced nature of the U.S. who buy food for a quick fix – like ready meals and fast food.”