For those who are not thrilled with exercising and moving around a whole lot, a move to some of the most sedentary cities in the United States might be in order. According to a new survey published by Men’s Health Magazine, the most sedentary city in the US is Lexington, Kentucky followed by Indianapolis, Indiana and Jackson, Mississippi. The cities topping the list for most active included Seattle, Washington, San Francisco, California and Oakland, also in California.

In Lexington, not only are the people there the least active, they also have a higher rate of death from deep vein thrombosis, also medically referred to as DVT. DVT is a blood clot which typically forms in the lower leg but may also form in the thigh or other parts of the body and is related to long periods of inactivity. Some types of medications as well as certain medical conditions can increase the risk of DVT in some people. It is a serious condition because the clots can break free and then travel to other parts of the body, including the lungs where it can lead to pulmonary embolism or to the heart where it can lead to a heart attack.

Men’s Health’s survey included questions that asked participants how often they exercised in any way, how often they watched cable television for more than fifteen hours a week, how many bought more than eleven video games. They also looked at the rate of deep vein thrombosis for each city and state.

Not surprisingly, there are a number of southern cities on the list which might be attributed to what is being called the “Southern lifestyle” which is more laid back than in other parts of the nation. The weather may also be a contributing factor because it is often harder to get people interested in exercise when the weather is very warm.

Other cities that were high on the active list included Washington, DC, Salt Lake City, Utah, Reno, Nevada, Portland Oregon, Denver, Colorado and Minneapolis, Minnesota. There was a bright spot for the Southern states, Atlanta, Georgia did make the list of most active cities.

This news does not bode well for the nation’s health, on the heels of even worse news about the continuing obesity epidemic. Just five years ago, there were zero states that had an obesity rating of 20% or higher, now there is only one state that is below that number. A dozen states are topping 30%, the majority of those are located in the South. Mississippi is the in the number one spot, a spot it has held for seven years in a row. Sixteen of the states have had an increase in their obesity rate to some degree.

There have been a number of suggestions about how to curb the obesity issue, but from the results of the Men’s Health survey, it is likely that suggesting more physical activity might be a major key.