Walking Challenge

AMA Alliance Walking Challenge 

"You can regain strength and become stronger at any age.  All you have to do is keep moving."
Colin Milner, chief executive of the International Council on Active Aging

The Health Promotion Committee is pleased to announce that 17 teams participated in the 2009 Walking Challenge. Their combined mileage equals an astounding 38,782 miles. Of the 17 teams that participated, 10 teams achieved the goal of walking 2,000 miles - symbolizing the walk from the shores of Lake Michigan to the studios of the Motion Picture Association of America in California - all in support of the Screen Out! campaign. The five members of the Alliance to Med-Chi team walked the farthest, logging an impressive 4,520 miles. Thanks again, to all the participants of the 2009 Walking Challenge.

We applaud those efforts! While the AMAA will not be continuing the Walking Challenge as a national project this year, we encourage every member to Take Steps toward fitness individually, as medical families, and at the county and state Alliance levels in your communities.

Individual fitness will be a focus of the Personal Space section of this Web site. Medical families can find support through the Healthier LifeSteps program. Many states and counties have activities in place to get people up and active. We'd like to highlight some of those activities on this Taking Steps page. Here are just a few examples:

• Salt Lake County Medical Society Alliance in Utah has been bowling as a league for more than 50 years. Fun, fitness and social networking all in one!
  
• Several counties have tackled the problem of childhood obesity in their communities; distributing activity books about fitness, monitoring activity levels with pedometers, and supporting the removal of unhealthy products in school vending machines.
• Indiana carried out a walk for awareness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as part of their Treat the Troops campaign.
• Tennessee provides Health Promotion grants to county Alliances each year. This year, the following county projects were among those receiving grants, with a focus on fitness:
  
  Chattanooga for the creation of a Yoga Club to promote relaxation, coordination, balance and exercise for children and adults, Nashville for "Be a Winner-Shape Up For Life," and Rutherford/Stones River for the Family Fun Run and Health Fair.

• North Carolina has a Get Fit program which includes challenges for multiple levels. Here is one example from their Web site:
  
  County Alliances form a team of Alliance members (must be a member of the NCMS Alliance to participate). There is no limit to the number of team members. Alliance members can walk, run, bike or participate in other indoor or outdoor activities. At the end of the six month challenge, one team will be awarded a $500 health promotion grant based on the amount of exercise/activity miles logged, the number of members meeting or exceeding 40 miles of exercise a month, and the percentage of members in their county participating on the team.
  
  For more information on North Carolina's program, check out http://www.ncmsalliance.org/.

Do you need more ideas or do you have suggestions to share? Please call 312-464-4470 or email  amaa@ama-assn.org.