HHS HealthBeat (April 23, 2007)

Walking Works

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

How long do you really need for lunch? For that matter, how many of those lunch calories do you really need?

The reason for those questions is this: Walking is good exercise and burns off calories – and maybe a half hour walk fits nicely into a lunch hour. That’s why HHS’ President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports is working with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association on WalkingWorks. It encourages workers to do just that – fitting in exercise, in bite-size pieces.

The 2007 spring kickoff took place on the National Mall, with HHS’ Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. John Agwunobi, leading a crowd crunching the gravel.

``They’re trying to encourage all workers to take a little time off during lunch --- make the lunch a little smaller and the exercise a little bigger during that hour.’’ (10 seconds)

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: April, 23 2007