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Article:  Take Walking to the Next Level

WV WALKS has achieved approximately a 10 to 15 percent increase in walking in the past eight weeks. Congratulations on this wonderful beginning! This is an outstanding achievement, and we are most grateful to the local community for participating in the campaign.

This week officially marked the end of our research phase. However, we must now move to the next level of support for walking, or our improvement will disappear. Twenty-first century American society is obesogenic. It is easier to get fat than to stay fit! We have more stimulation to remain on the couch than to be on the move. We have fast food, and fat food, everywhere. More than half of the local population is still not doing enough physical activity to improve their health.

Physical inactivity is a risk factor for ill health. In fact, its level of risk is equal to, or greater than, the danger inherent in high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking or having diabetes. Fit people gain tremendous health benefits. According to a 1996 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, fit people with two or three risk factors experience a lower death rate than do "couch potatoes" with no other risks. Regular physical activity and walking is the cornerstone of a healthier person and a healthier community.

The achievements of WV WALKS are only a beginning. We need even more community support if the campaign is to mature to the next level. WV WALKS must become a community program.

Mayor Ron Justice has strongly supported our efforts. He has been a leader for the best interest of our community for some time. Mayor Justice has established the WV WALKS Task Force, chaired by Dr. Greg Good, to enhance physical activity and walking in the local community to accompany other community revitalization efforts. Morgantown is a great place to live; we need to support these community efforts to make it a prosperous and healthy place to live.

We must team up to make wellness and regular physical activity part of our everyday lives and part of the social fabric of our community. How do we move the community to the next level? First of all, we will commit to a long-term effort. We need a five-year plan. We must make physical activity the norm--something in which everyone can, and does, participate.

Isn't it time you started walking?