By Travel Reporter 
Jan 28, 2021
Living a long and healthy life is highly influenced by environmental factors such as diet and lifestyle. But, so does your location.
UK company Lenstore conducted a new study to find which cities people can visit to live a healthy and happy life.
The company analysed 44 global cities across 10 metrics ranging from sunshine hours to the average cost of a gym membership.
The top destination to live a healthy and happy life is Amsterdam.
The Dutch capital takes the crown as the world’s healthiest destination.
Famous for its number of cyclists and picturesque canal walks, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Amsterdam takes the top spot.
The city is home to over 400 outdoor activities to keep locals and visitors fit and entertained. It also makes it to the top 10 least polluted cities in Europe.
The Netherlands is a perfect country for a healthy and happy lifestyle. It is crowned the fifth happiest in the world and is the sixth best country in Europe for obesity levels at just 20.4%, which is nearly 10% less than the UK at 27.8%.
Falling short of first place, Sydney ranks in the second position with an impressive number of sunshine hours at 2636 per year.
In the top 10 healthiest locations to live in the world, seven of them are based in Europe.
Three of these are located in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki, which are destinations known for their low pollution levels, short working hours and high happiness levels.
Fukuoka in Japan ranks seventh in the world and is the top healthy destination to live in Asia.
The city has the highest number of sunshine hours in the top 10 cities at 2769, beating the likes of Sydney and Barcelona, which also feature in the top 10.
Vancouver, Canada, ranks 10th overall and takes the top spot for North America, with considerably lower pollution levels at 24.26%, compared to other European cities such as Berlin (39.41%), Barcelona (65.19%) and Amsterdam (30.93%).
While some cities are great to pursue a healthier life, others can make it more challenging.
Johannesburg in South Africa fell in the bottom 10 cities. Other cities in the bottom include Mexico City, Moscow, New York, Washington DC, Milan, Paris and London.
Roshni Patel from Lenstore said it was interesting to see that leading a healthy and happy life can be influenced by your location by such a significant amount.
“The shorter working weeks and low pollution levels have proved greatly successful for cities in the north of Europe such as Copenhagen and Stockholm, despite these locations receiving some of the lowest hours of sunshine each year.
“Keeping fit and healthy can also become costly with gym memberships and costs of groceries varying in different cities.
“It’s great to see cities with hundreds of outdoor activities that can be enjoyed for free.
“With many different factors, it’s important to consider which are the most important to you to lead the healthiest and happiest lifestyle you possibly can,” said Patel.
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