Power Oil ‘Walkhearton Initiative’: More than Just a Walk

Not too many seem to be conscious of the healthy and life-saving effect of taking a walk even though it is an activity that people indulge in almost on a daily basis. Walking also known as ambulation, according to Oxford Dictionary means to move at a regular pace by lifting and setting down each foot in turn and never having both feet off the ground at once.

Quite interesting, a lot of people embark on a deliberate work either for the fun of it, financial constraints in the case of commuters, staging of protest or rally, to strike a deal in a game of betting, amongst others.

For instance, Edward Payson Weston who is today regarded as the father of modern pedestrianism made history when he walked from Boston to the inauguration of President Lincoln in Washington DC after he lost in a bet which he had earlier boasted that Lincoln would lose in an election.

In Nigeria, Suleiman Hashimu walked for 18 days from Lagos to Abuja to celebrate the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Walking, however, goes beyond this social influence.

In a developing economy like Nigeria where majority work almost round the clock in order to make ends meet and experience a seemingly unending traffic congestion, leaving little or no time to stretch the muscle and pay attention to health needs, research has proven that working for long hours and sitting for four or more hours per day expose people to all manners of diseases ranging from diabetes, depression, stress and cardiovascular problems.

Recently, heart-related diseases have cut short the lives of quite a number of promising Nigerians.

According to data from the World Health Organisation, WHO, over half a million Nigerians died from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in 2012, and 1 out of every 5 Nigerian adults over the age of 30 will likely die prematurely from NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases. In terms of risk factors for heart disease, 35% of Nigerian adults had elevated blood pressures in 2008, another 6.5%, mostly women, were obese.

Globally, the number of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases increased by 41 percent between 1990 and 2013, rising from 12.3 million deaths to 17.3 million deaths.

Yet, experts have said that these numbers are likely to increase substantially in the near future given the significant changes in people’s lifestyles and habits that are making them more susceptible to these diseases.

While heart diseases used to be attributed to developed or high-income countries, the stories of a growing epidemic of heart disease in Nigeria and other low and middle-income countries underscore the need for emergency responses on the part of individuals and indeed government.

The government indeed has a major role to play by investing hugely in the health sector.yet, health experts say that living healthy rest maximally on individual chosen habit and lifestyle.

One of the cheapest and simplest habits thus recommended by experts is walking.

According to the American Heart Association, AHA, walking for at least 30 minutes a day can help reduce risks of coronary heart diseases, stroke, breast and colon cancer.

Supporting AHA viewpoint, Jordan Metzl, a sports-medicine physician at New York City’s Hospital for Special Surgery says that exercise is the best preventive drug that should be taken by all.

An author and scientist, Katy Bowman states also that walking is a biological imperative like eating. Just like the dietary nutrients, she suggests that the body also valued movement nutrient that needed to be given it.

Scientific studies have also shown that walking, besides its physical benefits, is beneficial for the mind, improving memory skills, learning ability, concentration and abstract reasoning as well as ameliorating spirits.

The testimony and effectiveness of this physical engagement has propelled many including government, private individuals and corporate organisations to explore this option in keeping a healthy population.

For instance, in the United Kingdom, ‘The Walking the Way to Health Initiative’, was initiated by the British walkers association, ‘The Ramblers,’ the largest volunteer led walking scheme in the United Kingdom.Volunteers under this umbrella are trained to lead free health Walks from community venues such as libraries and doctors’ surgeries.

Also an organisation,’Walk England’ launched a website in June 2008 to provide professionals with evidence, advice and examples of success stories of how to encourage communities to walk more. The site has a social networking aspect that allows professionals and the public to ask questions, post news and events and communicate with others in their area about walking, as well as a ‘walk now” option to find out what walks are available in each region.

Here in Nigeria, foremost vegetable cooking oil brand, Power Oil, is leading the cause among corporates. Its annual ‘Walkhearton’ initiative which started off 3 years ago has not only intensified awareness on walking as a means of staying healthy, but also delivered many lives prone to diseases especially heart related.

According to the company’s Brand Manager, Amisha Chawla, the heart health awareness initiative which is a major corporate social responsibility project of the brand would further encourage Nigerians to see fitness as a lifestyle that needed to be adopted to remain healthy.

“The initiative kicked off three years ago in Lagos with a determination to penetrate all the 36 states in the country. In 2016, it covered Lagos, Ibadan, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Abuja.For this year,we were in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Abuja and off course Enugu. The turnout and feedbacks were quite impressive year on year and this clearly shows that the gospel of fitness and health consciousness which the brand preaches is fast gaining momentum amongst Nigerians by the day,” she maintained.

“To further drive this fitness message home and attract more attention, the brand also sought to partner with renowned artistes and comedians to enrich the participation level.

“For this third edition which was honoured by over 10,000 participants, Funnybone, MC Bonus and Sound Sultan thrilled the crowd in Lagos,the Enugu show was cheered up by Nigga Raw and MC Bonus while Sound Sultan & Funnybone stole the show in Portharcourt.In Abuja, Sound Sultan & MC Bonus also pulled the crowd with Woli Arole and popular Yoruba artiste,Afonja Sanyeri led the walk in Ibadan.The event was also graced by government officials of each state as well as representatives of the Nigerian Heart Foundation, NHF,amongst others.”

Speaking further on the initiative, the Public Relations Manager, Mrs. Omotayo Abiodun said, “As a health and heart conscious brand, all that we strive to achieve is a healthy population. We are saying that Nigerians should form an habit of walking for at least 30 minutes or 5 kilometre daily and consume healthy food so as to prevent and attack all sorts of diseases especially heart related. Of course, there are countless ways one can get to be active, but walking has the lowest dropout rate of them all. It’s the simplest positive change you can make to improve your heart health.

Since inception, the leading vegetable oil brand has been at the forefront of championing healthy cause through its different programmes which included ‘Pay with Calories’, an annual consumer engagement activity that invites the public to a location fully set-up with exercise equipment and encourage them to work out and burn some calories while they also get rewarded based on the amount of calories burnt on the spot.

Its health camp project provided the public with the opportunity to access free basic medical check up such as BMI, blood pressure and medical consultation. The company has also partnered state governments including Lagos and Ogun to strengthen the effect of the initiative which already has its presence in 14 locations across the country.