Walking for Wellness Black Women's Health Imperative

Walking for Wellness

News for You

Grassroots Effort Boosts Women's Activity Levels
A community-based program is an effective way to help women exercise more and it can also help reduce their blood pressure, researchers from Iran report.

Walking for Wellness: Basic Training
Here are the tools and tips you'll need to get stepping on your Walking for Wellness^TM Program!

The Walking for Wellness Program is a national, health-awareness and disease-prevention program that promotes well-being and regular exercise through walking.

It is designed to address the behavioral and social aspects of healthy living for Black women who bear the greatest burden of health disparities in this country. Over 49 percent of all Black women participate in no regular physical activity, which is a major risk factor of many chronic diseases. This program was designed to help reduce that disparity and increase regular physical activity for Black women and their families.

The Imperative encourages Black women nationwide to join the Walking for Wellness program as a way of reaching their fitness and weight-loss goals one self-paced step at a time. This culturally-tailored program promotes walking as a form of moderate physical activity that is affordable and appropriate for almost all women in reducing sedentary lifestyles among Black women. It also emphasizes the importance of accountable support networks for Black women to reduce isolation and improve relationships.

The targeted behavioral outcome, which is based on current physical activity recommendations to achieve health benefits, are for women to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, on at least 5 days per week. The goal of the Walking for Wellness program is to increase the physical activity of African American women and in turn reduce the incidence of obesity and other related stressors including: heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers.