Whether you're getting off your duff to walk to lunch or simply walking during lunchtime, you're getting a dose of exercise many Americans omit from their daily schedules.
Americans' couch-potato tendencies are leading the nation down a path to increased diseases from diabetes and heart failure to cancer and osteoporosis.
These often preventable illnesses are reaching epidemic levels, so much so that even President Bush recently urged Americans to walk at least 30 minutes daily.
In an attempt to promote walking among adults, Muscle Powered, a local group dedicated to promoting biking and walking among Carson City residents, is urging area residents to take a stroll as part of National Walk to Lunch Day.
Walkers from Boston to Portland, Ore., will be hitting their community's sidewalks Wednesday in an attempt to not only ease traffic congestion but also promote physical health.
"We thought it would be a good way to show that Carson City is walkable," said Anne Macquarie, Muscle Powered secretary. "It's especially topical in light of the increasing interest in public health and the recognition that we have a pretty sedentary lifestyle. If you can find ways to incorporate walking into your daily lives, you'll be healthier."
Macquarie said there are no estimates on how many people will be walking. The entire effort is a national trial to see if people will, indeed, abandon their cars for a lunch period.
"We encourage everybody to try it," she said. "It's good for the environment, and its good for public health."
The initiative is promoted by America Walks, the same organization that started Walk Your Children to School Day, which drew 2,152 walkers to Carson City schools in October 2001. For information on Muscle Powered: Citizens for a Walkable and Bikable Carson City, call 882-4898.
IF YOU GO
What: National Walk to Lunch Day
When: lunchtime, Wednesday
Where: wherever you want to walk to lunch
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