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Walking in the NMI with pedometers
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Posted on Aug 13 2005
Eating healthy food and exercising are two of the primary routes to a healthy living and walking everyday is always encouraged for the people in the CNMI.
CNMI Diabetes Prevention and Control Program program manager Lynn Tenorio said they encourage community members to eat healthy and inject more physical activity in their daily living.
“We ask people to walk everyday,” she said.
One way of achieving healthy goals through walking is through the help and assistance of a device called pedometer, an electronic device attached to the girdle of an individual to measure the number of steps they make everyday.
“Pedometer is an incentive for people to know how active or inactive they are,” she said.
It is a pager-sized device worn on the belt that simply records the number of steps taken based on one body’s movement. She said some pedometers are analog devices that simply measure steps. Some pedometers are even fancier digital models that track the distance one walks and the calories burnt.
Tenorio said an individual is normally required to take at least 10,000 steps a day. She said she is encouraging people at least take minimum of 900 to 1,000 steps a day.
The program gave away more than 60 pedometers during the Family Health Fair held at Hafa Adai Hotel in June.
Tenorio said the program want to get more people more health conscious. The program is distributing the pedometers to interested groups in the CNMI. DFS Galleria was the first management group that was given pedometers a year ago, she said. The group even had a competition using the device, making the activity healthier and fun for the employees.
Tenorio said more than 4,000 pedometers were already given away in the CNMI in three years. She said there are some sporting goods stores that also sell pedometers. (Marconi Calindas)
