2017 "JUSTWALK" With A Doc Program Announced
VISALIA –Visalia’s 2017 “Just Walk” With a Doc
program will kick off the year-long series on Saturday, Jan. 14, in Visalia.
The topic for the first Walk With A Doc program will be on thyroid health
and will take place from 8-9:30 a.m. at Blain Park, 3101 S. Court St.,
Visalia. For the remainder of the year, the walks will take place on the
second Saturday of the month.
This program is being offered for the fourth year thanks to The Healthy
Visalia Committee working in partnership with Kaweah Delta Health Care
District, Family HealthCare Network, Tulare County Health & Human
Services Agency and the Visalia Parks and Recreation Department.
Dr. Ronald Marconi, lead physician for the local Walk With A Doc program,
encourages anyone in the community to join the walk. “Kaweah Delta
is proud to support this program and as a physician I encourage all of
my patients to walk and be physically active and think of exercise as
medicine that can improve their overall health,” Marconi said.
Walking was recently recognized by the U.S. Surgeon General as one of the
single most important things we can do for our health.
Walk with a Doc was started in 2005 by Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist
in Columbus, Ohio. Frustrated with his inability to effect behavior change
in the clinical setting, Dr. Sabgir invited his patients to go for a walk
with him in a local park on a spring Saturday morning. To his surprise,
over 100 people showed up, energized and ready to move.
Since that first event in 2005, Walk with a Doc has grown as a grassroots
effort, with a model based on sustainability and simplicity. A doctor
gives a brief presentation on a health topic and then leads participants
on a walk at their own pace. Healthy snacks, water and resource information
are also a standard part of the event. Walk with a Doc now extends from
California to New York with over 277 chapters in between.
Walk With a Doc is a national non-profit organization whose mission is
to encourage healthy physical activity in people of all ages, and reverse
the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle in order to improve health and
well-being.
This is a free program and pre-registration is not required. A health topic
will be presented at each walk and healthy snacks will be provided. A
list of walk days will be announced through:
www.walkwithadoc.org and
www.healthyvisalia.org