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SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, February 22, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, February 22, 2008
CONTACT: Kristin Biskeborn, (605) 734-4551
Healthy South Dakota challenge logs 10,000 hours of physical activity
PIERRE, S.D. – Participants in Healthy South Dakota’s Choose 2 Move challenge started the new year by logging over 10,000 hours of physical activity. The month-long challange began January 15 and drew 65 total teams as well as 873 individuals.
Depending upon the type of physical activity they did, participants totaled 11,264 hours of vigorous-intensity physical activity or 16,896 hours of moderate-intensity physical activity.
Current recommendations call for able adults to get at least 30 minutes a day of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity five days a week or 20 minutes a day of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity three days a week. According to a 2005 Health Department survey, fewer than half (47.6%) of South Dakotans 18 and over met the recommendation for moderate activity. Only 23.5% met the recommendation for vigorous activity while 22.4% reported no leisure time physical activity at all.
Challenge participants used the www.HealthySD.gov website to keep track of minutes of physical activity, earning points for those minutes. The three teams with the highest point totals were Sante of Ft. Pierre; Nurses on the Go from Redfield and the Dynamic Duo, Pierre. The three individuals with the highest point totals were Angie Usselman, Aberdeen; Cindy VanGerpen, Brookings; and Barbara Diniger, Brookings.
At the close of the challenge, the department did a random drawing of participants, and chose the following 10 individuals to receive a wrist heart monitor: Millie Afraid of Hawk, Eagle Butte; Dr. Katie Bertrand, Brookings; Marcia Bourk, Sioux Falls; Tammy Burtz, Wall; Kathy Jensen, Spearfish; Cathy Nelson, Lake Preston; Sherri Sherard, Parker; Ruth Smith, Pierre; Mary Unterbrunner, Artesian; and Janine Ward, Aberdeen. The department also gave out more than 1,500 reflective arm bands during the challenge to help participants safely exercise outdoors.
Nutrition and physical activity challenges are offered several times a year through www.HealthySD.gov. The website and its challenges are part of the department’s Health 2010 objective to reduce chronic diseases such as heart disease by helping South Dakotans be physically active, eat healthy and live healthier lives.