Arkansas Fitness Challenge 'Games' Begin; 30,000+ to Join the 2007 Competition Statewide
February 26, 2007
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Damona Fisher
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LITTLE ROCK — Line dancers, tap dancers, roller skaters and thousands of walkers are making moves to have fun and get fit in the 2007 Arkansas Fitness Challenge. The statewide kickoff for the fourth annual contest was held today at the State Capitol Rotunda with line dancing and the lighting of ceremonial torches to let the "games" begin. The contest has grown from two entities participating in 2004 to more than 60 groups with an estimated 30,000 plus employees/individuals "competing" in 2007.
The Arkansas Fitness Challenge is an employee fitness competition hosted by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). In addition to the Challenge hosts, many other companies, organizations and state agencies statewide are joining in the competition and were recognized at the kickoff. Registration is under way and the contest officially begins March 1 and runs through May 31.
"Are you up to the Challenge?" asked Sharon Allen, president and chief operating officer of Arkansas Blue Cross, and John Selig, director of DHHS, of the competitors attending the kickoff.
Arkansas Blue Cross and the former Arkansas Department of Health introduced the Arkansas Fitness Challenge in 2004 when employees of the two entities squared off to "get fit." At stake? Bragging rights, but more importantly, better health. The Challenge encourages employees to work toward the public health recommendation of adult physical activity 30 minutes each day, most days of the week.
During the contest, participants engage in eligible cardiovascular-oriented exercises to work their way through 30 virtual checkpoints in Arkansas – from Bentonville to West Memphis. The winning entity is determined by whose employees/group members have the greatest participation and score the highest in four categories of measurement. Arkansas Blue Cross and DHHS employees competed against each other for the first three years, but now join the entire field of competitors for the 2007 competition.
Governor Mike Beebe declared today "Arkansas Fitness Challenge" day in recognition of the contest in a decree that was introduced by Blair Dean, chairman of the Arkansas Governor's Council on Fitness. Prior to ceremonies, members of the "Support Stocking Revue," a senior citizen group from Booneville, performed line dancing — their exercise of choice for the Challenge. The Revue's instructor, June Lyle, offered remarks during ceremonies. In addition to Lyle, Allen and Selig, Leah Osbahr, president of Lawrence Health Systems in Walnut Ridge, whose employees scored the highest in the 2006 contest, offered remarks — from an employer's perspective on how the Challenge has had an impacted on her employees.
"The first three Challenges yielded great results in improved fitness levels for the employees of Arkansas Blue Cross and DHHS," said Allen. "Last year, in addition to our two entities, about 45 other large and small companies, banks, schools and universities, physician offices, churches, hospitals and state agencies stepped up to the Challenge and got moving. Some groups did internal contests; some found a foe and challenged another company in their community. We estimate that about 12,000 individuals through their groups participated in the 2006 Arkansas Fitness Challenge. That was amazing. This year, many of those same groups and several others are ready to get moving."
"We believe programs like the Arkansas Fitness Challenge are a fun, motivational way to help people begin to change their lifestyles and, ultimately, improve their health and fitness," said Selig. "In Arkansas today, approximately 85 percent of our citizens have very little physical activity in their daily lives. We have roughly more than 65 percent of our citizens considered obese or overweight. We still have a high number of smokers. The costs in treating diseases that result from these health risks, like heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes — preventable diseases — is skyrocketing. We are looking at a serious public health epidemic as overweight baby boomers age and become ill."
New for the contest in 2007 is the Arkansas Fitness Challenge Web site www.ArkansasFitnessChallenge.com which provides a place for groups to register and individual group members to log their exercise online. Participants are able to watch real-time data to see how their stats compare to others in the competition.
To help other companies prepare for their own competitions, the Employee Fitness Contest Kit, a complete guide to organizing an employee competition, is available free.
"In a post-contest evaluation, 2006 Challenge participants within our two entities told us that their health had somewhat or greatly improved during the contest; that they had increased the number of days they exercised per week; that they had lowered their systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and weight (four reported losing 50+ pounds). Ninety-eight (98) percent said they would participate in future programs like the Challenge. Feedback from our external participants showed that they had experienced similar results in their workplaces," Selig said.
"The Arkansas Fitness Challenge is one way we are making a commitment to better health, starting at home," said Selig.
Allen said it is recommended that employees always consult their physician before starting any exercise program. "Our desire is to meet employees right where they are and get them started down the road to better health, better self-esteem and a better life," she said." You don't have to be a fitness fanatic; we just want to make some movement, literally and figuratively, toward better health. We also want to encourage other companies and organizations around the state to organize their own fitness challenges and keep this healthy movement ... moving."
To receive a free copy of the "Employee Fitness Contest Kit" in notebook and/or CD format, call toll-free: 1-800-686-2609 (Arkansas Blue Cross) or stop by the nearest Arkansas Blue Cross office.
The Kit may be downloaded as PDFs at any one of the following Web sites:
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Founded in 1948, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is the largest health insurer in Arkansas, serving approximately one-third of the fully insured market. Arkansas Blue Cross and its affiliates have more than 2,700 employees. If combined, the 39 independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans collectively provide health-care coverage for 98 million — nearly one in three — Americans.
The Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services
The Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services plays a key role in protecting and improving the health of all Arkansans. DHHS serves more than one million Arkansans each year. For more information about DHHS services, please visit www.arkansas.gov/dhhs.
