Strolling your way to a much healthier you

Graeme Lynch says joining a walking group has many benefits

FOR whatever reason, we don’t walk as much as we used to. Which is a shame, because it turns out that regular walking is one of the factors behind living a long and healthy life.

In fact, more than half of Australia’s adults aren’t sufficiently active to gain health benefits. We live in a country that has one of the highest rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease in the world. To make matters worse, more than one-quarter of our kids are overweight, which doesn’t bode well for the next generation either. We’re simply not being active enough. Since its formation in 1959, one of the cornerstones of the Heart Foundation has been our work on preventing heart disease and related conditions such as diabetes and stroke. After all, prevention is infinitely better than the cure, particularly if you consider what can happen when something goes wrong with our body’s most important muscle.

It was nearly a decade ago, back in 2008, that the Tasmanian Heart Foundation joined a growing national effort to get people back on their feet, as it became increasingly apparent that many of us weren’t getting the day-to-day physical activity we needed. Walking had long been shown to provide immense benefits to one’s heart health so we began inviting people to get involved.

Tasmanians from Kettering to Currie and most places in between answered the call, forming groups with names like Best Foot Forward, the Walkie Talkies, and the Ringaroamers. There’s a group of women on the West Coast — who clearly prefer to do their walking in the evenings — known as the Ladies of the Night.

Last count, more than onethousand Tasmanians belong to a Heart Foundation walking group. According to the very people who participate in these regular walks, the benefits are more than just feeling healthier. Who’d have thought that taking a brisk walk around the neighbourhood or along the beach with a bunch of mates could be fun?

My team and I work so hard on matters of the heart. We’re constantly advocating for better heart health policy. We raise money to fund lifesaving research into heart disease. For people who’ve experienced ill heart health we’re there too, providing support and advice on how to look after themselves in the aftermath of a scary experience.

But time and time again, during staff meetings and chats with health professionals alike, the conversation comes back to prevention as being the most important facet of the heart disease problem facing our country.

I urge you to get a little more active. Do what we all know we should: walk to work, or at least to the bus stop. Take the stairs. Walk around the block at lunch time. Ride your bike more.

But if you really want to have a laugh at the same time you brush up your health, join a Heart Foundation walking group. You’ll be welcome with open arms. For more information and to find a group near you, visit walking.heartfoundation.org .au.