Las Vegas, Nevada–April 6, 2009–Join Fight Pink and The American Heart Association for Start! Wear Sneakers to Work!  Take a stand against heart disease by participating in National Start! Walking Day on Wednesday, April 8. Get your company to sign up and celebrate by donning your sneakers to work and walking 30 minutes on this special day. It’s a great way to promote healthy living and build coworker relationships!

The Start! movement is here to motivate and encourage all Americans to take up walking and other healthy habits as part of their daily routine all year round, and to live longer, stronger, heart-healthy lives.

Why Walking? Walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity and is the simplest positive change people can make to effectively improve their heart health.

Research shows that walking and physical activity for only 30 minutes a day brings these benefits:

• Reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke
• Lowers blood pressure
• Reduces high cholesterol
• Reduces body fat and helps control body weight
• Enhances mental well being
• Increases bone density, hence helping to prevent osteoporosis
• Reduces the risk of cancer
• Reduces the risk of diabetes

You could gain as much as two hours of life expectancy for each hour of regular, vigorous exercise, even if you don’t begin exercising until middle age.

Source: Paffenbarger, R., Physical Activity, “All-Cause Mortality, and Longevity of College Alumni”. New England Journal of Medicine, 1986, Vol. 314, No. 10, 605 – 613

Wednesday April 8th is the day Fight Pink will join thousands of companies and Americans nationwide who have decided to take control of their health. Together, we will start! Walking More, Eating Well and Living Longer. This is the day we… … will reverse the trend of obesity and physical inactivity by creating a culture of physically active people. We will remind ourselves of the power we have to make a positive lifestyle change.

Fight Pink knows that a healthier employee is a happier employee, and that is why we are committed to preserving a healthy workplace for our number one resource – our people!

Source: American Heart Association

Fight Pink Alliance