Pittsburghers walk toward healthy future

For a city that boasts some of the best health care in the nation, Pittsburgh has never been… For a city that boasts some of the best health care in the nation, Pittsburgh has never been able to say quite as much for the health of its citizenry — in fact, recent studies have rated Western Pennsylvania as one of the unhealthiest regions in the whole country.

That’s what Pitt’s Department of Health and Physical Activity hopes to change with its promotion of “America On The Move,” a burgeoning national fitness initiative.

Pittsburgh’s “America On The Move” program kicked off its second ever walkathon event this Wednesday under the pavilion in Oakland’s Schenley Plaza. The event was hosted once again by Pitt.

Despite the damp weather, the event saw a fair turnout as more than 200 people participated. Participants received a free long-sleeved T-shirt and bottled water.

“Our scheduled walk is supposed to be around 2,000 steps long,” Amy Otto said, a professor from the Department of Health and Physical Activity. “Two-thousand steps is about a mile.”

“Many people here are wearing pedometers to keep track,” Otto added as she pointed to her belt where she sported a pedometer of her own.

Several keynote speakers, including Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, addressed the crowd at the beginning of the event. Spokesman Keith Jones with KDKA-TV was the first speaker.

“This is a call for all Pittsburghers to improve their health and to help to make Pittsburgh ‘merica’s healthiest city,” Jones said. “Right now, Pittsburgh ranks as one of the nation’s unhealthiest cities.”

Chancellor Nordenberg echoed this mission statement, citing a quote from a founding father: “Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.'”

“Jefferson is considered to be one of our most brilliant presidents,” Nordenberg continued, “but in this case it seems that he was only half-right. Walking is one of the best exercises, but you don’t necessarily have to walk very far. All you need to do is walk at least 2,000 steps a day, and give up 100 calories from your diet. 100 calories is about half a donut. I’m sure all of us can give up half a donut. And 2,000 steps is just a walk from the Cathedral to the Petersen Center. Or you can just take a flat route along Forbes if you don’t feel like handling Cardiac Hill.”

John Jakicic, the chief organizer of the event and a professor at Pitt’s Department of Health and Physical Activity, chimed in after Nordenberg’s comments: “If you decide to take the ‘flat route,’ just make sure you don’t stop by the ‘O’. That will set you back a whole 2,000 steps.”

After a few other speakers and some acknowledgments of corporate sponsors, the scheduled walk started off at around 12:20 p.m., heralded by a thumping aerobics beat from the pavilion speakers.

A couple of policemen on motorbikes escorted the crowd as they strode off through misted air towards Flagstaff Hill. There were a wide variety of participants, from elderly veteran walkers to college students to young children. The walking route took them in a loop around Flagstaff Hill, which skirted the CMU campus, and soon back to the Schenley Plaza pavilion.

“There were more people than this last time,” said participant and Pitt graduate student Alissa DiAlexandro, who had brought her scampering Cairn Terrier puppy along for the constitutional. “I think the weather scared some people off.”

When the walk was over, much of the crowd dispersed, but some remained to join popular aerobics instructor Leslie Sansone for a rigorous workout session.

While “America On The Move” was entirely locally organized, it was also part of a national initiative to get Americans to move their legs more. Pittsburgh is the latest city to pick up on this program.

“We just began ‘America On The Move’ in Pittsburgh around the end of August,” Jakicic said. “We’ll have an ongoing initiative every month, not just necessarily at Pitt but it will always be within the Pittsburgh community. It’s part of a national movement that is also taking place in 20 other communities. While it’s a national organization, each individual community does its own thing. We all operate on two simple things: walking 2,000 steps a day, and reducing our daily calorie intake by 100 to 200.”

According to statistics highlighted by “America On The Move” (sourced from the Center for Disease Control), Pittsburgh ranks quite low among America’s cities in terms of healthy citizens.

“Pittsburgh is ranked around the 10th to the 15th worst in the country,” affirmed Jakicic.