HHS HealthBeat (January 14, 2010)

High walking points

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

A nice place to walk and a nice group to walk with can improve people’s health habits. Researcher James Krieger of Public Health – Seattle and King County saw it in the largely low-income community of High Point.

High Point had gotten a big lift from a redevelopment that included trails, sidewalks and parks. This all supported walking, which Krieger says people wanted to do. So when researchers looked at three months of data on a group walking program for almost 60 people, they found physical activity went up:

[James Krieger speaks] ``The percentage of them that were meeting the recommended amount of physical activity increased from 62 percent to 81 percent.’’

Krieger says the same could happen elsewhere, too.

The study in the American Journal of Public Health was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

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: May 7, 2011