Walking better for heath
THE Esperance communitywas encouraged
to drag out their sneakers and walk
to work on Friday as part of a national
initiative Walk To Work Day.
Now in its seventh year, the walk
encourages Australians to walk all or
part of the way to work to improve their
health and contribute to a cleaner envi
ronment.
Member for Eyre Dr Graham Jacobs
- who makes the effort to jog daily and
has been doing so for the past 30 years -
emphasised the importance of walking
or running to work.
"I know myself that when I don't exercise
in the morning I just don't feel right.
"Healthy body healthy mind," Dr
Jacobs said.
WA Country Health Service,
Population Health Goldfields, health
promotion officer, Megan Press, said
that the day was an important reminder
of the need to reduce people's depend
ence
on cars and use walking as a form of healthy and environmentally friendly
transport.
"Many people may find that their
work does not provide the opportunity
to do much physical activity during the
day, particularly those with long work
ing
hours, so walking all or part of the
way to work is a good way to get the rec
ommended
30 minutes of exercise each day" she said.
Around half of Australian adults are
not active enough, while 25 per cent of
adults are obese and another 37 per cent
are overweight.
Federal Health Minister Nicola
Roxon, who was in Western Australia
during the day, said that not walking has
major implications for our health and
having an unhealthy diet are major risk
factors for a number of chronic diseases
including diabetes, heart disease, car
diovascular
disease and some cancers.
Walk to Work Day was established by
the Pedestrian Council of Aust ralia.