There is nothing exactly high tech, or even innovative about walking. But that won’t stop KineticShift.com from helping spread the word that walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week is the first step toward better health. This is the take-charge message from health advocates at Kaiser Permanente, who announced a new public awareness project aimed at starting a national conversation about the health benefits of walking.
Every Body Walk! is an online educational campaign aimed at getting Americans up and moving, and the site www.everybodywalk.org serves as a walking hub for news, resources on walking, health information, walking maps, how to find groups and even a personal pledge form to start walking. The site even provides a place to share stories about individual experiences with walking.
According to research more than 70 percent of all adult Americans lead sedentary lifestyles and this impacts the overall health of our country as a whole.
“The aim of the Every Body Walk! campaign is to inform Americans about the tremendous health benefits of walking,” said Bob Sallis, MD, family physician at Kaiser Permanente’s, Southern California Permanente Medical Group. “Walking is an excellent form of exercise for everyone and for those with conditions like diabetes, asthma, heart disease and depression, a regular walking regimen has the added benefit of helping to manage these diseases. I’m a strong believer in the power of walking and that’s why I literally prescribe it to my patients as front line medicine — often in place of medications.”
The Every Body Walk! campaign is powered by Kaiser Permanente. Campaign partners include the American College of Sports Medicine and their Exercise Is Medicine global initiative.