By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Portage County residents are readily participating in a "10,000 Step" program to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Rice Medical Center started the program in August, with its Family Practice physicians visiting schools in the Stevens Point area to explain the program and how to measure steps using a pedometer.
Doctors and researchers have found that taking 10,000 steps per day, the equivalent of walking five miles, helps an individual's health. Walking 10,000 steps a day will burn between 2,000 and 3,500 extra calories per week, which should achieve a better health profile and longer lifespan.
Wearing a pedometer helps people track daily activity and may also inspire people to move more on days when they have been sedentary. The pedometer measures steps, distance in miles and calories.
Brant Bergeron, marketing director for Rice Medical Center Ministry Health Care, said officials were surprised by the participation. "They ordered 25 pedometers and got rid of them in an hour. Then they ordered 50, and they were gone in an hour and a half."
Now, more than 3,500 pedometers, which are available at Rice Medical Center, are being used through the program, he said.
After first going to the schools, Bergeron made the first business/corporate presentation in December to employees at Delta Dental Plan of Wisconsin, 2801 Hoover Road, Stevens Point.
At four "Lunch and Learn" sessions, Bergeron and Family Practice physicians explained the program and showed how the pedometer works.
Bergeron said physicians have found that jogging and some other physical exercising can be harmful to parts of the body. "Activity doesn't have to be aerobic to be beneficial," he said.
The pedometer keeps track of steps and the goal is to get to 10,000 steps per day. "Keep track of your steps for the next two weeks," he told Delta Dental employees. "After the second week, try to add 500 steps a day for each week until you get to 10,000. We don't want people to just jump to 10,000 steps per day. We want you to build it into your daily routine."
He said people will need to reach 12,000 to 14,000 steps each day to trigger weight loss, but any walking is beneficial.
"You will find that this becomes an addictive behavior throughout the day," Bergeron said, adding that he and his wife compare how many steps they take almost every day to see who has taken the most. If they're below 10,000, they might take a walk to increase their number, he said.
Pam Gartmann, director of human resources and organizational development at Delta Dental, said Delta Dental decided to add the "10,000 Step" program to its "Delta Winter Fitness Challenge 2004" that started Jan. 1.
The challenge lasts three months, and Gartmann said Delta asks its employees to participate in fitness activities, incorporating them into their daily routines and then continuing them on a regular basis to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Employees keep track of their units of activity through March 31, with each unit representing 15 minutes of continuous activity in aerobic dance, basketball, bicycling, cross country skiing, downhill skiing, horseback riding, ice hockey, ice skating, jogging, judo/karate, racquetball, roller skating, running, snowshoeing, swimming, tae bo, tennis, volleyball, walking, water exercise and weight training.
Employees who reach the Challenge Level A of 100 units receive a reward, as do those who reach 200 units.
Delta Dental provided each employee with a pedometer, and many employees purchased additional ones, with nearly 200 taken.
The pedometers cost $20 each and are available at the main desk of the Rice Medical Center. Each pedometer comes with instructions, plus a sheet to record daily steps.