On average, Red Deer-area residents are more obese and less active than other Albertans — but here’s a chance to shape up.
The local Primary Care Network is challenging any person, business or group within the region to get fit in 2010 by taking a virtual Trek Around the Hawaiian Islands.
The goal is to begin logging real-life activities into the website, www.reddeerpcn.com, starting on Monday.
Every time participants take a walk, play hockey, swim laps, or go cross-country skiing they need to log in the duration of the activity. One hour of hockey, skiing or jogging will automatically be turned into a certain number of virtual steps by the computer program — which will then show how far these steps would go around a map of the Hawaiian Islands.
The aim is to trek all 1.26-million steps around the islands before the challenge ends on May 11, said network director Lorna Milkovich, who believes this is a fun way to get the whole community motivated.
The Primary Care Network was spurred to create the challenge by a survey done by the former David Thompson Health Region. It showed 46 per cent of Central Albertans get less than 30 minutes of activity a day, compared with 45 per cent of average Albertans. Some 37.5 per cent of area residents are also overweight, compared with the Alberta average of 34.7 per cent, and 19.1 per cent of area residents are obese compared with 15.8 per cent of Albertans overall. As well, a quarter of Central Albertans smoke, versus 23 per cent province-wide.
Milkovich isn’t sure why local activity and fitness levels are below average, but she guesses that opportunities might be lacking in rural areas without gyms of other recreation facilities.
The positive aspect of the survey is that 70 per cent of Red Deer-area residents felt a sense of community, compared with only 63 per cent of average Albertans, she added.
“We want to tap into that community spirit” to get people off the collective couch, added Milkovich, who noted improvements in diet and exercise are known to decrease the risk of heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and colon cancer.
Previous versions of the challenge were taken by physicians and their patients. This time, participating businesses are already challenging others in the community to take the trek.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com