Northwest Health System Brings Start! Program to Northwest Arkansas

Northwest Health System invites your workplace to participate in the American Heart Association’s Start! program.

Start! is a groundbreaking national campaign that calls on employees and their employers to create a culture of physical activity and health to promote stronger, heart-healthy lives through walking. Promoting physical activity through workplace walking programs can help employees reduce their risk for heart disease and stroke and lead longer, stronger, healthier lives!

Start! is a way for both individuals and their employers to reap the benefits of physical activity. Physical activity has many proven benefits:

• Adults gain two hours of life expectancy for each hour of regular exercise. (Source: Harvard Alumni Study, New England Journal of Medicine, 1986.)
• Brisk walking for 30 minutes a day can reduce risk of stroke, bad cholesterol (LDL) levels and high blood pressure. (American Heart Association)
• Physically active individuals save an estimated $500 a year in healthcare costs.
  (World Health Organization Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health)
• Employers can save up to $16 for every $1 spent on wellness and health promotion in the workplace. (Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, 2005)

To sign up your company for the Start! program, contact the American Heart Association at (479) 442-6540.