Ottawa Public Library-Physical Activity-Steps Per Day-Councillor-Pedometer

Councillors Track their Steps with Ottawa Public Library Pedometers

Every day, beginning with our first steps as a child, we walk. But do you know that for adults ages 18 to 64 it is recommended that you reach 10,000 steps per day? Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) invite you to use a pedometer to track your steps!To mark the end of Physical Activity Month, OPH staff, Board of Health members Katherine Hobbs and Mathieu Fleury, and Councillors and OPL Board trustees Jan Harder and Shad Qadri are wearing pedometers all week. They will be tweeting their step counts and trying to reach the 10,000 a day goal. Follow #ottawawalks and #ottawamarche to see how they’re doing!Walking is a free, accessible and low impact form of physical activity that can be incorporated throughout the day. To increase your daily steps:

• Walk to work or school
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator
• Take a lunch time walk
• Walk to the movies or local grocery store

Ottawa Public Library offers a pedometer lending program at all of its branches. With a library card, residents can borrow a pedometer for three-week periods to count their steps and watch their walking increase over time.  Every step counts – put your best foot forward and try to reach the daily step goal for your age. For more information on the pedometer lending program and to view pedometer availability, please visit biblioottawalibrary.ca.Wearing a pedometer will show the number of steps taken each day and it will help to compare your current walking activity level with what is recommended for your age. Daily step goals include:

• Children (5 to 11 years): 12,000 to 16,000 steps per day
• Youth (12 to 17 years): 11,000 to 12,000 steps per day
• Adults (18 to 64 years): 10,000 steps per day
• Older adults (65+): 6,000 to 7,000 steps per day

Follow Councillor Harder @BarrhavenJan, Councillor Qadri @ShadQadri, Councillor Hobbs @Katherine_Hobbs and Councillor Fleury @MatheiuFleury and use #ottawawalks and #ottawamarche to participate and reach your goal! Let us know what you’re doing to increase your daily steps! read more..

source:ottawa.ca

Ottawa Public Library-Physical Health-Type 2 Diabetes-Bike Trails

Walk or Bike Your Way to Health

Over the last 25 years, many of our daily routines have become less and less active.  In fact, 68% of Canadian men and 69% of women spend the majority of their waking hours sitting, an average of 9 hours a day. Think about your daily work routine and add-up the hours. Does it take a long time to drive into office?  Is it a series of meetings or long stretches in front of a computer screen?  Being physically active is good for your mental and physical health, it reduces your risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and breast and colon cancers.  [[MORE]]Employers are starting to encourage more physical activity in the workplace.  They see the benefits of good health for their employees, the environment, and they see increased productivity, less absenteeism, and fewer injuries. One way workplaces can help is encourage employees biking or walking to work. Why not talk with your boss about starting such a program. It will change your day and your co-workers.  Here are a few things to consider:

• Contact the  EnviroCentre to  find out more or even plan a Bike to Work program in your workplace
• Racks for locking up bikes
• Facilities for lockers and showers or somewhere close-by to use like a gym
• Maps posted of the local bike trails and footpaths
• Support groups to set up a buddy system for walking or biking to work
• Information for travel planning and being safe
• Information on bus routes for co-workers who wish to use the bus as well as walking and biking
• Borrow a pedometer from any branch of Ottawa Public Library and to motivate yourself and your colleagues by counting steps.

For more information, call Ottawa Public Health at 613-580-6744 or e-mail healthsante@ottawa.ca. read more..

source:ottawa.ca

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board-Community Foundation Of Ottawa-Ottawa Schools

Walking matters!Ottawa Public Health’s Associate Medical...

Walking matters!Ottawa Public Health’s Associate Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Vera Etches, participated in the Winter Walk to School Day on Feb. 13. The annual Winter Walk to School Day and the partnership between the City of Ottawa, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Community Foundation of Ottawa and Heart and Stroke Foundation helps promote sustainable forms of transportation to school - such as walking and cycling - for increased physical activity, improved student and environmental well-being. Ottawa Public Health has worked with community partner Green Communities Canada (GCC) to support the implementation of the School Travel Planning (STP) project in Ottawa schools.  STP is a community-based program which applies a process that has been used with success in other cities and countries to increase the number of children and their parents choosing to walk and cycle to and from school.Every February, Winter Walk to School Day is marked by schools and municipalities across Canada and around the globe to raise awareness of the benefits and ease of walking to school, even during winter. The Ottawa project was introduced to ten schools (eight elementary, two secondary) in 2009-2011.  In 2011-2013, it will expand to an additional eight elementary and six secondary schools. For more ideas to get you moving, visit ottawa.ca/health read more..

source:ottawa.ca