The Kansas Governor’s Council on Fitness recently appointed Diann Henderson, Janel Rose and Megan Hammeke as Physical Activity Champions for Barton County. Physical Activity Champions across the state are advocating for local residents to be more active and are promoting physical activity and its benefits to individuals, community groups, businesses, schools and churches in their communities.
“This is a great opportunity for everyone to balance holiday eating with a regular routine of physical activity in the months ahead,” Rose said. To kick off this initiative, the local champions invite Barton County residents to log on to the new physical activity tracker “Move Across Kansas” at www.moveacrosskansas.ks.gov and begin recording their physical activity starting on Oct. 19.
Move Across Kansas features a map with routes across the state for virtual travels. Participants enter their daily exercise time to move along a different route each month. Each participant can receive credit for up to 60 minutes of exercise each day with a goal of completing at least 600 minutes each month (30 minutes a day, five days a week).
Henderson is the executive director of the Great Bend Recreation Commission and incoming president of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association. Rose is the Public Health Educator for Barton County Health Department and serves as the chronic disease risk reduction coordinator for Barton, Rice, and Stafford counties. Hammeke is the recreation program coordinator for Great Bend Recreation Commission.
The Governor’s Council on Fitness is launching the Get Active Kansas! Campaign to help Kansans realize the benefits of physical activity and to take action to increase physical activity among all Kansans. In addition to the network of Physical Activity Champions, this campaign includes the Get Active Kansas website www.getactivekansas.org with materials for the entire community.
The Kansas Governor’s Council on Fitness has been charged with promoting a statewide response to prevent chronic disease and injury among Kansans. Established in 2006 to address physical inactivity, poor nutrition and tobacco use, the Council promotes regular, lifelong physical activity and healthy eating practices that have been shown to contribute to healthy weight, prevent and/or improve most chronic diseases and increase longevity. For more information about the Council visit www.kansasfitness.org.
The effort also melds well with another county-wide initiative, Be Well Barton County, which falls under the Central Kansas Partnership which includes groups committed to wide variety of health issues.
Rose, Be Well Barton County team member, said  “This is a great way to get out in our community and look at our environment—find the safest places to be active walking and biking and look for places that can be improved.”
Be Well Barton County’s priority is to improve our local environment through policies and environmental changes that enable the entire population to safely walk and bike throughout the community of Barton County.  
“Imagine if Barton County was known as the Most Walkable and Bikeable Community in Kansas,” Rose said.  “Not only can we improve the health of our residents, we can boost our economy by making our community more attractive for new business development and tourism.”
The Governor’s  Get Active Kansas campaign demonstrates the need for more activity by all Kansans if we are to avoid future illnesses including heart disease and diabetes – the highest health risks predicted for adults and children in coming years, she said.