Lonoke County fitness challenge kicked off

By Priscilla Campbell / Staff Writer / pcampbell@lonokedemocrat.com
Friday, October 10, 2008 2:55 PM CDT



People at Lonoke County Fitness Challenge want Sen. Bobby Glover know they are thinking about him at the challenge kickoff on the Lonoke County Courthouse steps Wednesday, Oct. 1 (Priscilla Campbell).
Lonoke will be trying to win the Lonoke County Fitness Challenge for the third year.

Ward won the challenge the first two years.

The Challenge began this year on the Lonoke County Courthouse steps on Wednesday, Oct. 1. The challenge will end Dec. 31.

County Judge Charlie Troutman said at the kickoff that when people take care of their self they visit the doctor less.

“It (challenge) is a worth well program,” Troutman said.
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The Challenge is between the cities of Lonoke, Cabot, Carlisle, Ward, Austin, Scott, Keo and England. These cities will be prorated, based on population, to ensure equal representation when comparing data.

Milton Garris, Lonoke County Health Department employee and director of the Fitness Challenge, said he expects a better competition from England, since the city has a new Health and Fitness Center.

Gil Standridge of England said the center will have a dedication Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. and an open house on Oct. 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., where people can use the equipment for free.

Garris said the challenge was started in 2003, because of an Lonoke County Behavioral Risk Factor Survey sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Health Center for Health Statistics and the Lonoke County Hometown Health Improvement Coalition that said people in Lonoke County are overweight and don’t exercise enough.


“It (challenge) was started to address those health issues,” Garris said.

The survey randomly selected 800 adults, who answered a telephone survey. Of the 800 people, 532 were women, 268 were men, 739 were white, 40 were black, and three were Hispanic.

The survey said thirty-nine percent reported to have at least one day a month of poor physical health.

According to the survey, “the average Lonoke County adult had five days of bad health and five days each month when health problems interfered with usual activities.


The survey also reported that:



Twenty-four percent did not participate in regular and sustained physical activity during the past month.


Sixty-one percent of Lonoke County adults are overweight and respondents age 40 to 64 were more likely to be overweight than others.


Twenty-four percent had some limitations on activity caused by a health condition.


Thirty-seven percent reported they had been given a high blood cholesterol diagnosis by a doctor.


Thirty-five percent reported they had a limitation in activities because of joint symptoms.

Garris said the goals of the challenge are to promote physical fitness, a healthy lifestyle, make exercise a part of their daily life, promote good eating habits and stay away from fast food and unhealthy snacks.

Garris also said the competition encourages and promotes people in the challenge.

Eligible exercises for the challenge are walking/jogging/running, swimming laps/water aerobics, court sports (including tennis, racquetball and basketball), bicycling, aerobic dance (jazzercise, low/high impact step aerobics), and the use of aerobic machines (treadmill, rower, stepper, elliptical skier and stationary bike).

A participant gets one point for every 30 minutes of exercise and five points for one pound of weight loss.

The city earning the most points is the overall winner. The winning mayor will get a plaque.

Every 15 days, participants need to turn in their exercise logs with their name, exercise period and date. Turn in stations are the Lonoke Community Center, Lonoke County Health Department, Cabot Community Center, Cabot Health Unit, England Health and Fitness Center, Ward City Hall, Austin Chamberlain Store and Carlisle City Hall.

People can also turn in their exercise log to Milton.Garris@arkansas.gov

People can join the challenge at any time.