Healthier Cumberland is sponsoring a fall community health challenge called Plug In to Fitness. This event will run for 6 weeks starting September 24th. Participants will record daily minutes of physical activity AND time spent in front of a screen watching television, movies, playing video games, or surfing the internet. The goals of the Plug In to Fitness community challenge are to increase our amount of daily physical activity, reduce our sedentary screen time, and “plug in” to new ways of getting physical activity in the Cumberland area. Participants that complete and submit their challenge log books will have the opportunity to win prizes, including a one-year family membership to the Cumberland School Fitness Center.
Most of us are aware of the many health benefits of physical activity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these include a reduced risk of heart attack, a lower risk of diabetes, a lower risk of some cancers, improvements in blood pressure, weight control, and less feelings of depression and anxiety. Despite all of this, more than 50 percent of adults do not achieve the recommended amount of regular physical activity and 24 percent of all adults are not active at all. Insufficient physical activity is not limited to adults. About two-thirds of young people in grades 9–12 do not engage in recommended levels of physical activity. The CDC recommendations for adults are at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity (during which you experience some increase in breathing or heart rate) on 5 or more days of the week OR at least 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity (during which you experience a large increase in breathing or heart rate and conversation is difficult) on 3 or more days of the week. It is recommended that children and adolescents participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity most days of the week, preferably daily.
For most Americans, one of the biggest challenges to being more physically active is the amount of time families spend in front of a screen. According to the CDC, the average American child spends over four and a half hours in front of a screen each day. Furthermore, the amount of time children spend watching television has a direct relationship to their weight - those that view the most hours of TV each day have the highest rates of obesity. For adults, watching more than two hours of television each day is associated with overweight and obesity. This information has led health organization like the National Institutes of Health to recommend that families agree to limit TV/DVD/video watching or gaming to two hours a day (or less).
The Plug In to Fitness community challenge is free and open to all ages. Personal tracking log books will be available at the Cumberland Hospital, Cumberland Federal Bank, Toftness Chiropractic and the Cumberland School District Administration Office September 14th – 28th. Log forms can also be printed from the “Current Challenge” page of the Healthier Cumberland website.
To be eligible for prizes, completed logs should be submitted to the Cumberland Hospital, School District Office, Cumberland Federal Bank, or Toftness Chiropractic Clinic between November 4th and November 10th. Cumberland Pre-K—Grade 12 students should turn their personal tracking logs in at their school to be eligible for special prizes. |
