Auburn, Feb. 25 --- Physical activity has been shown to help reduce the risk for chronic disease. Walk! Alabama was developed as an eight-week program to address change in behavior of attitude and action toward walking and physical activity.

“The program is a fun and risk-free way to burn fat, lower blood pressure, lose weight, ward off heart disease, strengthen your bones and muscles, prevent certain cancers, boost your mood and add years to your life," says Dr. Suzette Jelinek, Extension specialist, network and marketing, and coordinator of the program.

Walk! Alabama begins March 4 and runs through April 28. Last year, more youth participated than ever before.  There were 2,588 youth participants that walked an average 4 times a week for 35,451 miles.  More than 1,100 adults walked 257,392 miles during the eight-week program.

"The program proved effective from both an increase in physical activity as well as individual feelings of well-being by the participants," says Jelinek. "Walk! Alabama will motivate you to start and stick with a walking plan. If you are already a walker, the friendly competition in the plan is a fun way to contribute your regular walking to a team effort."

How does Walk! Alabama work?

In each county, teams of eight friends, neighbors, family members and/or co-workers compete to see which team can walk the most miles and be the first to reach 850 miles. That's the equivalent of walking across Alabama -- from Houston County to Lauderdale County and from Baldwin County to DeKalb County.

"The goal is for each county to get as many eight-member teams as they can to compete," says Jelinek. Teams are for everyone, regardless of age.

There are a lot of team possibilities. For example, business versus business, or department versus department within a business, neighborhood versus neighborhood, moms versus dads, school class versus school class ( i.e., sixth-grade classes), school versus school, teachers versus students, teachers versus teachers, and churches versus churches. The list goes on and on. Prizes may be awarded to the first team to reach the 850-mile goal, team with the most miles, individual with the most miles, etc.

Team members can walk as a group or individually, says Jelinek. Each team member keeps a log of his or her miles and reports the total to a team captain each week. The team's total mileage is tracked weekly on an official Walk! Alabama map posted in each Extension county office.

To participate, get an eight-member team together, name the team, choose a team captain, and fill out a registration form. Forms are free and available at your county Extension office. Your county Extension office will notify you when the kickoff celebration for Walk! Alabama is scheduled.

The program was funded by FNS, Food Stamps and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

For more information about Walk! Alabama contact the Alabama Cooperative Extension System Office in your county.

SOURCE: Dr. Suzette Jelinek (sjelinek@aces.edu), Extension Specialist, Network and Marketing, Alabama Cooperative Extension System (334) 844-5355