Walk to Health Holiday Challenge Starts Dec. 9

McCOOK, Neb. -- Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department’s Walk to Health program is offering the “Walk Into the New Year” Challenge starting Monday December 9th through December 31st. This free walking program is open to residents of all ages in the SWNPHD nine-county service area.

“Our Walk Into the New Year challenge is a good opportunity for folks to get their steps in and be ready for a healthy new year's resolution,” states Joy Trail, Program Manager at Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD). “This is also a good time to be getting extra steps in to make up for the extra calories we consume this time of year.”

Through a grant provided by Community Hospital of McCook, Walk to Health is partnering with MoveSpring - a fun and easy-to-use wellness platform. Participants can use the web or mobile app to create an account and connect a device for tracking, recognition and encouragement. Paper step-tracking forms are also available.

Registration opens November 25th. To register, go to http://app.movespring.com or download MoveSpring from the App Store or Google Play. Use organization code WALK2H to create an account and join the “Walk Into the New Year” challenge. You will be able to connect your fitness device to track activity automatically, or you can manually enter your daily exercise into the app or on the paper step journal. Instructions are available on the SWNPHD website: swhealth.ne.gov.

“Everyone who completes the challenge and fills out a survey will receive a free gift from Community Hospital’s Wellness for Life Program,” explains Joy Trail. “We are grateful for this partnership that is benefiting the community by encouraging physical activity to reduce the risks of chronic disease among residents of southwest Nebraska.”

If you do not want to use internet access, you may register for the challenge by calling 308-345-4223 or stop in at Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department, 404 West 10th Street (1 block north of Arby’s) in McCook or 501 Broadway (5th Street entrance) in Imperial. You can also email: info@swhealth.ne.gov and find information by following SWNPHD on Facebook and Twitter. SWNPHD serves Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Hayes, Hitchcock, Keith, Perkins and Red Willow counties.