![]() ![]() ![]() Your hamstrings, glutes, quads, calves, hips and core all spring into action as you move-even the muscles that help curl your toes are used. But the activity actually uses a lot of muscles. Work with parents and schools to encourage children to walk to school where safe.Most of us take a few steps every day, so it may seem like putting one foot in front of the other takes little to no effort.Participate in local planning efforts that identify best sites for walking paths and sidewalks.Use crosswalks and crossing signals when crossing streets and not jaywalk.Help others walk more safely by driving the speed limit and yielding to people who walk.Start a walking group with friends and neighbors.Provide places at work to shower or change clothes, when possible.Identify walking paths around or near the work place and promote them with signs and route maps.Create and support walking programs for employees.Promote walking paths with signs that are easy to read, and route maps that the public can easily find and use.Make sure existing sidewalks and walking paths are kept in good condition, well lit and free of problems such as snow, rocks, trash, and fallen tree limbs.Consider opportunities to let community residents use local school tracks or gyms after classes have finished.Consider designing local streets and roadways that are safe for people who walk and other road users.Consider walking when creating long-range community plans.Studying ways that communities can make it easy and convenient for people to be more active.Helping people get active through programs like Community Transformation Grants and Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity state programs, and by working with partners like Safe Routes to Schools.Working with partners to carry out the National Prevention Strategy to make physical activity easier where people live, work, and play.Walking routes in and near neighborhoods encourage people to walk to stops for buses, trains, and trolleys.People need to know where places to walk in their communities exist that are safe and convenient.This also helps wheelchairs and strollers and is safer for people with poor vision. Maintaining surfaces can keep people who walk from falling and getting hurt. ![]() People are more likely to walk and move about more when they feel protected from traffic and safe from crime and hazards.People need safe, convenient places to walk. Walking increased among adults 65 or older, but less than in other age groups.More adults with arthritis or high blood pressure are now walking, but not those with type 2 diabetes.The West and Northeast regions have the highest percentage of adults who walk in the country, but the South showed the largest percent increase of adults who walk compared to the other regions.More people are walking, but just how many depends on where they live, their health, and their age. Walkable communities result in more physical activity.Regular physical activity helps people get and keep a healthy weight.Inactive adults have higher risk for early death, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, and some cancers.Women and older adults are not as likely to get the recommended level of weekly physical activity.This should be at a moderate level, such as a fast-paced walk for no less than 10 minutes at a time. Adults need at least 2 and 1/2 hours (150 minutes) a week of aerobic physical activity.Less than half of all adults get the recommended amount of physical activity. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |