(Bloomberg)--Research on obesity reveals some interesting numbers about what cities with a high obesity rate have in common.

Some aren't so surprising, such as many have increased poverty levels.

Some are more surprising--for example, a higher number of baseball fields doesn't mean a higher number of svelte and fit citizens.

However, lower levels of obesity seem to correlate to increased parklands and dog parks.

Here are five facts about obesity and U.S. cities.

Memphis (photo: City of Memphis, Tennessee)

#1--Municipal Fitness: Poorer Cities Have Poorer Health

It's been well-documented that a high poverty rate is closely correlated with an elevated obesity rate, and this data from the American College of Sports Medicine backs it up.

A confluence of intertwined factors may be at play, including access to affordable and healthy food choices, access to recreational facilities and childcare in order to attend those facilities, and overall nutritional education.

Pictured: Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the poorest cities in America, with over 15 percent of its households below poverty level and over 34 percent of its population obese.

New Orleans and Birmingham come in next after Memphis in terms of increased poverty as well as higher percentages of populations being obese. (See this Bloomberg Business Chart.)

Read: Why employers should invest in community health

#2:--The Power of Swingsets: Could Boosting Parkland Be a Solution?

If municipal governments were to dedicate more of a city's total area to parkland, could that help alleviate high obesity rates?

The data suggests that could be the case, as cities with higher percentages of parkland tend to have lower obesity rates.

New Orleans and its massive wildlife refuge areas is a notable exception to the rule.

Pictured: San Diego--over 22 percent of its city land is park land, and less than 18 percent of its population is obese.

Washington, D.C. has the next highest percentage of city land that's parks, followed by New York City--both have populations with less than 26 percent of the people being obese. (See this Bloomberg Business chart.)

Read: The 10 fattest states in America

#3--Barking Up the Right Tree: Dog Parks vs. Obesity

The correlation between more parkland and lower obesity rates also holds true for dog parks specifically.

Zone more park areas dog-friendly and obesity rates could inch lower as more residents burn calories alongside Fido.

Pictured: San Francisco is second in U.S. cities with the most dog parks--it has over 3.0 dog parks per 100,000 residents--and it has less than 18 percent of residents who are obese.

Las Vegas has even more dog parks--over 4.0 per 100,000 residents, but its obesity rate is higher at 28 percent obese. (See this Bloomberg Business chart for more cities.)

Read: Top 10 kids health concerns

#4--Strike Out: Baseball Diamonds Don't Bring the Obesity Rate Down

Interestingly, the number of baseball diamonds per 10,000 residents in a city doesn't appear to have a positive impact on obesity rates.

If anything, it appears many of the cities with the most ball fields per capita--Baltimore, Cleveland, and Kansas City--have some of the highest obesity rates in the country.

Though maybe that's because the existence of ball fields doesn't really mean much if the city's poorest residents don't have the time or resources to get out and play. Also, let's be honest: There's a lot of standing around in baseball.

Pictured: Cleveland, Ohio has over 3.5 ballparks for every 10,000 citizens, a number topped only by Minneapolis, but Cleveland has over 28 percent of its population in the obese category, and Minneapolis has just over 24 percent. (See this Bloomberg Business chart for more cities.)

Read: 9 tips for creating an obesity program

#5--Free-Range Carrots: Not Keeping Obesity in Check

Like baseball diamonds, increasing the number of farmers' markets per resident also appears to have little effect on a city's obesity rate.

That could be because farmers' markets have a reputation for being overpriced or located in wealthy neighborhoods.

Some non-profits, like New York's City Harvest, have been trying to correct this disconnect by ensuring that pop-up farmers' markets reach the outer boroughs and making sure that residents are educated on how to use the sometimes unfamiliar produce available.

New York also allows customers to pay for farmers' market purchases with EBT, or food stamps, and gives customers a $2 coupon for every $5 spent at farmers' markets in an effort to make farm-fresh food 40 percent more affordable.

Pictured: Kansas City has over 30 farmer's markets for every 1,000,000 citizens, but around 30 percent of its population is still obese. (See this Blooomberg Business chart for more cities.)

Read: Obesity could cost society $1 trillion

Instant Insights /

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