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Pueblo on the Move Puts People on Their Feet

September, 2003 Fit to be Tied Column

From the Pueblo Chieftain
by Gary Franchi

 

Pueblo on the Move Puts People on Their Feet

When the Pueblo YMCA added the Health Challenge last year as one of the events in its annual Corporate Cup, it had no idea what it had created. One year later, it realizes it has stumbled upon a blockbuster.

The Health Challenge, in a nutshell, is a 12-week walking program that gets under way 13 weeks before the main Corporate Cup activities start during the third weekend in September. Participants also receive health-enhancing tips, learn health behavior modification tips and receive motivation while participating in Pueblo on the Move, an offshoot of the state's Colorado on the Move walking program.

That program, in turn, is an extension of the national America on the Move program, which was started as a simple way to attack the overweight problem that is prevalent in our society. From the start, its goal has been to get people to eat smarter and to take 2,000 extra steps per day, increasing that gradually until they have worked up to 10,000 steps daily.

"Taking 2,000 extra steps a day, which is about the equivalent of one mile, is considered what people need to do to stop weight gain," said Nicole Means, the Health and Fitness Director at the YMCA and Coordinator of the Pueblo on the Move program.

The 10,000-step figure is seen as the amount necessary for reaching and maintaining one's optimum weight level.

The Corporate Cup Health Challenge is a perfect microcosm of what the YMCA represents - a vehicle for helping people to become healthier and more active, regardless of their current health status. The Challenge's focus is to get them to get moving and to eat smarter.

Actually, Corporate Cup participation is not a requirement for joining Pueblo on the Move, and the Healthy Challenge is only one part of the program. Anyone can become part of it as an individual, and organizations can join, too. Among other groups who have participated are the YMCA Senior Walking Group, Irving Elementary School and the YMCA Daycamp Group 5, which is a group of kids who entered the fifth grade this fall.

In fact, in one year, 900 Puebloans have caught the fever and gotten involved with Pueblo on the Move, which, Means is proud to point out.

"In the first year, almost 1 percent of Pueblo's population participated in it," said Means, who also is the Director of the Corporate Cup.

Those who join are able to purchase a Pueblo on the Move pedometer for $16 (they are available at the YMCA). After an initial orientation that includes receiving health-enhancing tips, participants need attend no other meetings.

The company with the largest participation in Pueblo on the Move is St. Mary-Corwin Hospital with 334 participants, Means pointed out. Through the Corporate Cup's Healthy Challenge this year, 815 are registered.

The success of Pueblo on the Move led to Pueblo being selected one of two pilot cities in the nation (Indianapolis is the other) for implementing innovative strategies for getting its population moving and walking.

For more information on Pueblo on the Move, contact Means at the YMCA (543-5151).

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