Baptist Health Madisonville places sixth in Medical Fitness Week national competition

Baptist Health Madisonville places sixth in Medical Fitness Week national competition

Baptist Health Madisonville places sixth in Medical Fitness Week national competition

 

Madisonville, KY. (July 7, 2017): Baptist Health Madisonville was named the sixth place finisher in the Medical Fitness Week 10K Walk Challenge: 70,000 Steps in 7 Days competition. 

 

“For us to place this strongly in a national competition against larger healthcare systems shows that our employees and community support the idea of healthy lifestyle activities,” said Robert Ramey, president of Baptist Health Madisonville.  “It is our hope that this program acts as a start toward healthier habits by giving people a common goal and a team to support them as they begin their own journey toward a more active lifestyle.”

 

Medical Fitness Week was recognized nationally April 24-30, 2017 and was proclaimed locally by Mayor David Jackson.  Baptist Health Madisonville asked participants to track their steps each day with a goal of achieving 10,000 steps or more each of the seven days. 

 

For 2017, Baptist Health Madisonville submitted 14,384,147 steps with 212 participants to earn sixth place nationally.  Baptist Health Madisonville placed fifth in the competition in 2016.

 

It takes just a little more than 2,000 steps to achieve one mile and typically the average American walks between 2-3,000 steps each day.  According to the Surgeon General,  the benefits of walking are having more energy, reducing stress, better weight management, decreased risk of  heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, colon and breast cancer and osteoporosis.  Walking 10,000 steps per day will burn an additional 2,000-3,500 extra calories per week.