Geraldton comes in as one of WA’s least fit cities, but has favourable environmental factors and interest

Have you ever wondered how “fit” Geraldton as a whole is — are there more fitness freaks who live here or lazy locals who have an aversion to exercise and a fondness for fast food?

According to new research from Net World Sports, the answer is somewhere in between fit city and slob central.

Overall, Geraldton was named as WA’s second-least fit city, based on factors like health conditions and sports participation. But it’s not all bad news.

Out of 50 cities Australia-wide that were surveyed, Geraldton was the 14th-fittest overall.

Busselton, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Bunbury all ranked in the top 10 nationally. Albany was WA’s least-fit city, while nationally that title went to Victor Harbor in South Australia.

Darwin claimed the crown of Australia’s fittest city.

Geraldton performed well in certain categories, ranking third-highest nationally in fitness engagement, which is collated from online search trends and sports participation.

Geraldton also nabbed 10th spot on the national list of best environmental enablers, based on the number of gyms available and fast-food outlets.

Net World Sports chief executive Alex Loven said the statistics showed that Geraldton still struggled with maintaining health and fitness.

“Around 8.5 per cent of residents report having a long-term health condition, with 2.6 per cent experiencing heart disease and 1.4 per cent living with a lung condition. Despite this, over half of the population participates in sport or exercise regularly,” he said.

“However, still 78.97 per cent aren’t meeting physical activity guidelines, and nearly half the population lives near fast-food outlets, with 48.7 people per store. These numbers highlight that while there’s interest in fitness, Geraldton still faces challenges in supporting healthier lifestyles and improving overall wellbeing.”

Visiting the Geraldton foreshore in the morning reveals exactly how keen some locals are on fitness, with mums strolling with their prams, seniors in walking clubs and people off for a swim before work populating the busy area.

Three of the eager exercisers were retirees Anthony Cogan, Rick Giles and Craig Forrester, who cycle together three times a week. They described the foreshore as “brilliant” and “the best thing that ever happened in Geraldton”.

“You can ride all the way along footpaths to the lighthouse,” Mr Forrester said.

Mr Cogan said cycling was “very social” and a great way to have a chat while exercising. The men said they could cycle from their homes in the Mt Tarcoola area and not worry about “trying to battle with cars”.

“The cycleways are well maintained so that you don’t have to worry about getting on the road,” Mr Giles said.

Geraldton’s enthusiasm for fitness is also shown in our sporting participation numbers, with 64.5 per cent of the population taking part in sport or exercise at least once a week.

Those living in the Mid West city do have some unhealthy habits, with 11.42 per cent smoking at least once a week and 72.82 per cent of the population falling outside a healthy BMI range.

Busselton came in as WA’s fittest city, calculated using rates of health conditions, how much of the population was meeting physical activity guidelines and on diet and exercise searches.

Data was compiled by the Net World Sports and taken from Australian Bureau of Statistics and National Health Survey, Ausplay and online search engines.