Report: Topeka has 8th worst diet in the U.S. and Wichita is even worse

People who live in the Capital City might want to start trading in those candy bars for carrots, if a new study is correct. According to 24/7 Wall St., Topeka ranks near the bottom of a list of healthy eating cities in the country, but yet, it’s not even the lowest ranking city in Kansas.

The study found 43% of adults in the Topeka metropolitan area said they do not eat healthy, making it the 8th worst in the U.S. That’s just a sliver less than 7th place Wichita where 43.1% aren’t getting enough greens. 24/7 Wall St. said those numbers come from a 2016 Healthy Eating report from Gallup and Sharecare.

The financial news site dug a little deeper to note 14.4% of adults in Topeka say they are in poor or fair health. It also says more than a third of adults (35.7%) are obese.

24/7 Wall St. claimed the availability of healthy food – which it measured as the number of fast food restaurants – and income appear to be factors in eating decisions. In both cases, Topeka was below average. While cities on average have 73 fast food joints per 100,000 people, Topeka had 78.1. But, that’s nothing compared to Wichita, with 85.5.

Median household income in Topeka was sub-par as well. Whereas nationally, it’s just over $60,000 a year. Here it’s $56,834.

Overall, Lubbock, Texas, had the worst diet, followed by Memphis and Cincinnati.