SNEAKERS FRIDAY BY PHILIPPINE HEART ASSOCIATION ENCOURAGES EVERYONE TO MOVE AND WALK MORE

Wear sneakers on Fridays

I could not forget the poster I saw at my chiropractor’s clinic which says, “Sitting is the new smoking.” It means that being a couch potato could harm us in the same manner as smoking. Yes, there is a direct relationship between the length of time spent sitting and risk of early mortality of any cause. Our total sitting time increases our risk of an early death.

According to health experts, sitting for around eight hours a day increases one’s risk of contracting heart disease, cancer and diabetes for about 40 percent. Majority of the world’s population is within the working age group. Most of us are guilty of sitting, tinkering on the laptop, cellphone while slouching or lying down.

Lace up, wear sneakers every Friday

So when I heard about the recent initiative by the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) called Sneakers Friday which encourages everyone to wear their sneakers and casual clothing every Friday to promote physical activity.

The brainchild of PHA immediate president, Dr. Raul Lapitan, Sneakers Friday would like to see multi-sectors (led by its doctors) in training institutions, local and private sectors, to improve their physical and mental well-being as well as to effectively address sedentary lifestyle. The PHA is keen on living up to its mission to hype and heighten public awareness on preventive and management of heart diseases. Thus, the Sneakers Friday campaign was born. It builds on the perspective that individuals have the ability to adopt healthy lifestyles when supported by a conducive workplace.

Philippine Heart Association spearheads the Sneakers Friday campaign

By means of walking regularly, maintaining a healthy diet and weight, plus avoiding vices, we are slowly but surely getting into that goal—of living a healthier life. Doing away with vices, exercising regularly (even as simple as brisk walking alone will suffice) and eating healthier prevents us from acquiring major lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, and cancers. Other risk factors like an elevated blood pressure and blood sugar level as well as obesity are some of the effects of sedentary lifestyles.

Don’t lose hope. There are still a lot of ways on how we can improve our lives.  In order to attain a healthy lifestyle, it is important to incorporate wellness in all aspects of one’s life. We can always choose to take a staircase than to ride an elevator or escalator if we go one or two floors up. We can also park the car on the farthest end of the parking lot so that we can walk some more.

“Wearing a sporty attire on Fridays, we can start developing the habit of walking and do it more frequent, as possible,” said Dr. Lapitan.

So what are you waiting for?  Stop staring at this blog post and start walking!