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America on the Move Week | Activate America | Obesity & Healthcare Crisis
America On the Move Week with the YMCA is a nationwide effort to encourage and inspire individuals and families to take small steps toward active living and healthy eating.
Everyone can start a healthier lifestyle with two small daily changes — taking 2,000 more steps and eating 100 fewer calories.
These small changes have been shown to make a difference.
All YMCA branches in the Metro Phoenix and Yuma areas will join more than 2,000 YMCAs across the country in offering free events throughout the week.
Our goal is to inspire 10 million people to collectively take the equivalent of 10 billion steps throughout the week.
We can get there with your help. You can register at to track your steps for the week at your branch.
Check the schedule on the right for your local branch and join us! You can use the conversion charts to convert your activity into steps.
America on the Move Week is part of Activate America, a national initiative that is explained below. |
YMCA Branch Schedules for America on the Move Week:
Fact Sheets:
Ways to Cut 100 Calories
Ways to Add 2,000 Steps
Creating a Successful Environment
Steps to a Healthy Weight for Kids
Activity Conversion Chart for Adults
Activity Conversion Chart for Kids |
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The Quick Start Guide contains all the information you'll need to participate. Including:
- What is America On the Move
- Top 5 Reasons to Join Us
- Easy Ways to Get an Extra 2,000 Steps a Day
- Creating Your Healthier Environment
- Activity Converted to Steps
- Six Week Tracking Form
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About YMCA Activate America |
YMCA Activate America™ is a national initiative that is rallying YMCAs across the country to further enhance their service and support to kids, adults and families who want to live a healthy lifestyle, but struggle to do so.
As a part of YMCA Activate America, YMCAs are also deepening their commitment to community wide efforts to promote healthy living and intensifying their collaboration with other community partners to magnify community benefits.
As a valuable community resource, the Valley of the Sun YMCA is proud to join in this national effort to help those in our community live healthier lives. YMCAs are for people of all faiths, races, ages, incomes and abilities.
YMCA Activate America was created because—as the nation's oldest and largest community based organization with over 2,600 YMCAs, 20.2 million members and a mission dedicated to health and wellness for more than 150 years—the YMCA is uniquely qualified and positioned to impact our country's growing obesity, chronic disease, and health care crisis.
To maximize its impact, the YMCA of the USA has enlisted national partners to provide expert advice on the development of YMCA Activate America. These partners include:
- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
- the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Steps to a HealthierUS initiative,
- Harvard School of Public Health, and
- Stanford University School of Medicine.
In addition, organizations such as Disney Channel, Kellogg Company, JCPenney Afterschool Fund, Kimberly-Clark Corporation and PepsiCo have been instrumental in supporting this initiative. |
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A Growing Obesity & Healthcare Crisis:
- As more and more Americans face chronic diseases and obesity, our country is challenged with a public health crisis. The prevalence of overweight/obesity has increased dramatically across the nation and is now an epidemic. The effects on our children, families, and communities are far reaching—but they can be prevented and they are reversible.
- Over the past 20 years, unhealthy behaviors, including physical inactivity and unhealthy eating, have led to an epidemic of obesity and related chronic disease in the United States.
- With 60 million adults-or 30 percent of the U.S. adult population-and 9 million children obese or overweight, increased physical activity for our children and families is of critical importance to our community.
- Today, obesity is associated with a series of chronic health conditions—including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, breast cancer, colon cancer, gallbladder disease, arthritis, sleep disturbances and breathing problems-putting the United States in the middle of a serious health crisis and reducing the quality of life of millions of Americans.
- In addition to the chronic diseases and health conditions associated with obesity, being obese is also associated with a lower health-related quality of life. If we fail to curb this obesity epidemic, the youth today will likely have a lower life expectancy than their parents, reversing a trend that has been increasing for nearly two centuries.
- Research has shown that small, consistent changes to daily physical activity and eating patterns can add up over time to big rewards. Small activities such as adding 2,000 extra steps and eating 100 fewer calories each day are enough to help most Americans prevent the current average annual weight gain of 1-2 pounds.
National Statistics:
- For children born in the U.S. in 2000, one in three will develop diabetes, and Latino females are impacted even more – 1 in 2 will develop diabetes.
- 65 percent of all people age 20 and older are overweight or obese. Since 1991, the prevalence of obesity among adults has increased by more than 75 percent.
- More than 50% of U.S. adults do not get enough physical activity to make a difference in their health.
- During 2005, a total of only 36% of high school students met currently recommended levels of physical activity on = 5 days a week.
- During 2005, 80% of high school students had not eaten 5 or more fruits and vegetables daily and 67% did not attend physical education classes daily.
- Based on figures from 2000, health problems related to obesity cost our country an estimated $117 billion a year due to direct health care costs, as well as the indirect economic costs of lost productivity.
- Hospital costs related to childhood obesity alone have tripled in the last 20 years.
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