AMERICA ON THE MOVE – with a nation-wide fitness campaign
America on the Move (AOM) is a non profit organisation which is dedicated to helping people improve their health and quality of life. AOM has carried out a new nationwide fitness survey in the US which revealed that nearly 40 % of those questioned had been told by their doctor that they needed to lose weight. But the difficulty people found with taking more exercise was lack of time and motivation.
STEPtember
To help overcome this problem America on the Move is launching a month-long campaign in September (known as STEPtember, sponsored by the YMCA of the USA) to try and encourage those who are overweight to make the following changes over a six week period:
- Move more: take 2,000 more steps every day (about one mile or walking for 15 minutes)
- Eat more healthily: 100 fewer calories every day (about one tablespoon of butter)
Researchers have found that weight gain can be prevented in as much as 90% of the population by modifying the energy balance by 100 calories a day.
It’s easy
Think about it: you may feel you haven’t got time to walk a mile each day, but could you walk to work instead? If not, how about a walk in your lunch-hour? And reducing your intake of calories shouldn’t be that difficult: cut out butter in your sandwiches and stop having ice cream in the house (you know you’ll only eat it if it’s there – Beeble)
Get involved and get help
Throughout the month of September you can register online and receive daily dietary information, exercise tips, track your progress and also enter to win a grand prize.
Special activities are also being planned nationwide throughout September to help people get On the Move. From September 20 to 27 more than 1,400 YMCAs across the country will participate in America On the Move Week. To find local STEPtember events simply visit www.AmericaOnTheMove.org and use the STEPtember event finder.
Let’s do the same
I think this is an excellent scheme and one we should consider copying in the UK. The best thing about it is that the changes it suggests are really achievable – so let’s get started, September is next week!
