Today is National Walking Day, a perfect time to encourage everyone to get up and get moving. Engaging in physical activity is one of the most important things people of all ages can do to improve their health, and active living is one of the priorities of the National Prevention Strategy, called for by the Affordable Care Act.
The Office of the Surgeon General is leading the Surgeon General’s Every Body Walk! Initiative to support walking and walkable communities.
Walking is the most popular form of aerobic physical activity for adults in the United States. Incorporating walking into your daily routine can:
– lower your risk of having health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes
– strengthen bones and muscles
– help burn more calories
– lift your mood
National Walking Day, sponsored by the American Heart Association, raises awareness about the importance of physical activity. This National Walking Day, Acting Surgeon General Boris Lushniak, M.D., M.P.H. will be joined by Junior Commissioned Corps Officers around the country in supporting walking.
The Office of the Surgeon General invites you to join the movement: Lace up your sneakers and invite your family, friends, and coworkers to join you.
To learn more about the Surgeon General’s Every Body Walk! Initiative, please visit http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/initiatives/walking/index.html. To read recent publications on walking, visit CDC’s August 2013 Vital Signs: Walking Among Adults, http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/Walking/, and NIH’s Walking…A Step in the Right Direction brochure, http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/PDFs/WIN_Walking.pdf.
Source: Surgeongeneral.gov
April 2, 2014
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/initiatives/walking/index.html
