Photo by Ryan Gregor

The D.C. region ranks second on an annual list of the country’s most fit metropolitan areas—one position lower than in recent reports.

The Anthem Foundation and the American College of Sports Medicine released this year’s American Fitness Index with Minneapolis in first place, ousting the D.C. region for the top slot that it’s held for three consecutive years.

San Francisco, Seattle, and San Jose rounded out the top five.

The D.C. area received high marks for nearly two dozen factors, including low percentages of smokers and people with coronary heart disease, and high percentages of farmers markets, dog parks, basketball hoops, recreation centers, and people who walk or bike to work.

Areas for improvement, which came in at worse than 20 percent of the target goal, include investments in parkland, ball diamonds, and parks and playgrounds.

According to data collected by an organization called The Active Kids, Healthy Community, areas that lie east of the Anacostia River have the greatest need for safe and affordable place to engage in physical activity.

And a report from the Big Cities Health Coalition last year showed that D.C. had the highest number of new HIV diagnoses among the cities surveyed. And in just about every category studied, there were major health disparities between black and white Washingtonians.

Overall, the region got a score of 79.2 from the American College of Sports Medicine, which sourced most of its data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This isn’t the only ranking where D.C. dropped: the District also lost its coveted top slot as the most facial hair friendly city in June.

ACSM American Fitness Index Report 2017 by Christina Sturdivant on Scribd