Hale & Hearty 7K is a Catalyst to a Healthy Community

[Metro Jacksonville]

Hale & Hearty 7K is a Catalyst to a Healthy Community



Community First Hale & Hearty 7K is a Catalyst to a Healthy Community.  A healthy community, as described by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services? Healthy People 2020 report, is one that continuously creates and improves both its physical and social environments.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2012-may-hale-hearty-7k-is-a-catalyst-to-a-healthy-community

[mtraininjax]

The 7k race is a great event and everyone should look to participate somehow, either as a runner or walker. The sad fact is that even with the ads about smoking, we still have a population of 20% of Americans still consuming tobacco, down greatly from the Mad Men era where smoking was part of your work. I read this in a Business Week column on the types of smokers who exist, great story about those who huddle in the crevices of society as smoking has been identified as one of the most dangerous habits one can have for their health.

HBO has a great show on the obesity epidemic in America. 1 in 3, even the homeless, are hit with this issue. Parents believe that kids need a flavored soda and chips as their meal, when this is a main issue to getting kids hooked on bad food. Our nation produces more cheap corn, cheap soybean and we feed this to our cattle and kids because the processed food companies see profits on top of profits. Good series and I encourage everyone to watch it, if possible.

I'll be out running the 7k race, a fun one from RAM back to RAM. I encourage everyone to participate, hopefully it will be a better weekend than the Beryl weekend.

[dawnemerick]

Jacksonville is at least 15 years behind other metropolitan communities our size addressing healthy community design.  What's more alarming is that we are falling behind to SMALLER sized communities who have chosen to make quality of healthy life a community value.  A small community just outside of Akron, Ohio Requested and received federal funding to develop The Connect Hudson Plan.  This Plan is a guide to future city improvements -- sidewalks, park paths, bike paths, bike lanes, lighting and crosswalks -- designed to make walking and biking safer and improve the environment and health of residents.  The Plan is based on the results of a Safe Routes Hudson's questionnaire. The results ranked improving walking and biking routes to downtown as the most desired improvement, followed by getting around neighborhoods, traveling to school and traveling to parks.Residents ranked weather as the No. 1 reason for not walking or riding, but a need for more adequate facilities was listed as second.  So....  The Hudson City Council made this a community priority. 

What's our forward thinking community priority?  How are we going to stay competitive with other communities to retain and attract the new Millenial workforce?  How are we going to invest in slowing down the onslaught of diabetes [and other chrinic diseases] that is going to burden our health care system and everyone's quality of life in the next 15 years.   

The Health Planning Council, along with other forward thinking partners, is committed to shaping this conversation and executing a bold healthy and economic development based plan.  The Community First Hale & Hearty 7K race is the first phase.  We will expand this race into every county in Northeast Florida to demonstrate what a healthy designed community is and how it not only improves the health of a community but also is an economic juggernaut! 

Join us on June 2.  The Community First Hale & Hearty 7K is so much more than a race.  It's a movement. Register at www.haleandhearty7k.com.