Boosting Sarasota's heartbeat: a new heart-pumping program helps a Florida community walk for weight loss.

Americans are in the midst of a health crisis. One out of every four people suffers from some form of diabetes or high blood pressure-related problem. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in America, and an estimated 67 percent of our population is overweight. Obesity in this country is spreading from the adult population to the children, as evidenced by an alarming increase in those obesity rates.

Regionally, nearly 40 percent of the adult population in Florida is overweight with an additional 18 percent actually considered obese, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examinations Survey. The percent of adolescents facing adverse weight issues has more than doubled over the last 20 years.

With statistics in mind, Sarasota County embarked on Start Your Heart--a walking, biking, jogging or Rollerblading program for adults, children and dogs of all ages and fitness abilities. The original concept of the program was to bring awareness of the growing obesity problem Americans are facing and the negative health issues that accompany being overweight. Exercise is an integral part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, yet many Americans lead sedentary lives.

The Start Your Heart program was developed for Sarasota County Parks and Recreation in order to offer everyone within the community the assistance they need to make changes in their personal lifestyle; a program that is individually tailored by the participant to fit his or her individual needs and improve his or her quality of life.

The Surgeon General recommends that Americans perform 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity several times per week. The Start Your Heart program provides not only the means but also the motivation for participants to increase their current levels of physical activity. They can walk, jog, Rollerblade or bicycle. They can change their routes, pace and distance they travel each day. They may enjoy walking alone or include their friends. For some people, including the family dog is all the incentive they need. This program has been designed to be flexible so participants do not get bored, frustrated or unmotivated.

The Benefits are Endless

There are many benefits of the program other than just getting fit. Family members of participants enjoy the benefits of a healthier, happier and more energetic relative. Parents who participate pass on, through example, a more active and healthier lifestyle to their children. Kids also learn to incorporate physical activity into their everyday life--this could become a habit carried well on into their senior years. And families have a program that they can do together, as well as create a healthy family ritual.

In addition, Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Department has been able to enhance its community partnerships between agencies, and share resources to bring residents healthy opportunities. A recent partnership has been formed between the parks department and the Sarasota Chapter of United Cerebral Palsy. United Cerebral Palsy approached the agency looking for a program or resources that could enable them to give their clients a new recreation experience that they could engage in at least once per week. With Start Your Heart, Cerebral Palsy participants are able to set personal goals, and the earned incentives are enthusiastically received.

Another benefactor of the program is the family dog. Pets are facing the same health and weight-related issues as their human partners. Owners have incurred rising veterinary costs due to their pets sedentary lifestyle. Walking the family dog not only provides the dog with much needed exercise, it often provides the motivation the owner needs to get moving. An owner will walk his or her dog and not realize that, in the process, he or she is receiving positive health benefits.

Tracking Progress

Participants have stated how they have set and met personal goals, such as Sidney Finkelstein. Finkelstein is an active biker. He set a personal goal to achieve 1,000 miles by the end of 2004. Finkelstein has not only met his personal goal, he exceeded his goal by 355 miles. He is also the first 1,000 mile participant of the Start Your Heart program.

Many participants have lost weight since beginning the program and participants have told many stories of improvements in their emotional wellness.

Brad Deavox is a 25-year-old Start Your Heart participant. He holds a desk job and has engaged in limited physical activity. At his annual physical he found that his blood pressure was above normal. Deavox heard about the Start Your Heart program through a coworker and decided the program had all the elements he needed to get moving. Deavox has since lost five pounds; he makes healthier dietary choices and says he generally "feels good!" Deavox attributes his health progress entirely to the Start Your Heart program. "My yearly physical brought my health to the top of my priority list. The Start Your Heart program provided me the means I needed to set personal goals and incorporate exercise into my busy lifestyle. In the first few months of the program I noticed a difference not only in my physical well-being but also in my emotional well-being. I'm a happier person. The Start Your Heart program did that for me," Deavox says.

Participants may join the program at any time and walk anywhere. They begin the program by filling out a registration card. The front of the card contains the participant's contact information and participation waiver. The backside of the registration card is set up so that the participant can monitor his or her health progress. It includes a table for recording Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, body fat, height and weight. These statistics will also provide the parks department with information needed to seek grant opportunities to support the program in the future. The registration card also provides the parks department with a database of participants for upcoming events, informing participants of special events and community health issues and programs.

All participants receive a free ped-o-meter when they register. They then enter their name on the tracking chart (see chart on this page). The tracking chart is a large poster with room for 100 participants per chart to log 250 miles per quarter-mile increments. The tracking chart was designed specifically to provide visual motivation for all participants especially those with limited or low fitness abilities. The quarter-mile is an increment of movement that can be achieved easily throughout the participant's day. A participant soon realizes he or she can work .25 of a mile into their daily routine before work, at lunch or when walking the dog. Checking off each quarter mile on the tracking chart not only provides participants with visual motivation, but also provides a sense of accomplishment that encourages them to keep moving.

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As participants reach pre-set mile markers (5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1,000) they earn milestone incentives such as hats, T-shirts, fanny packs, headbands and sweat towels. Participants can enter their own miles on the tracking chart by coming into their community center or they may call in their miles and staff will log their miles for them. Each community involved in the Start Your Heart program has a parks and recreation community center that hosts their community tracking chart. The program is based on the honor system and is designed to be flexible to the individual participant; therefore, only the participant tracks miles. However, monitoring progress technologically by parks and recreation staff could easily be incorporated into the program.

Partnering for Health

This is not a one-time program but a continuing process to assist participants in creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Shirley Amore, executive director of Community Services Business Center states, "Sarasota County Government has set 'healthy communities' as a priority for Sarasota County. Start Your Heart is a model program for providing all citizens of all ages and fitness abilities the means to achieve this important initiative and incorporate fitness into their individual lifestyle. The Start Your Heart Program gives our citizens a means of fighting what has now become a national epidemic, obesity."

At the time Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Department was looking for a means of addressing the obesity problem of Sarasota residents, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System was looking for an avenue to address its healthy heart initiative. Sarasota County Parks and Recreation Department partnered with Sarasota Memorial Health Care System in order to provide the most comprehensive fitness program possible. The partnership met both needs; a fitness program that combined heart healthy exercise, health care education and the ability to benchmark and monitor individual health indicators. Participants are offered free health screenings and health-related seminars such as Exercise and Hydration, Dietary Do's and Don'ts and Sun Safety-all conducted by the health care system's registered nurses. The seminars are open to the public and held four times throughout the year, but the health screenings are for Start Your Heart participants only.

In order to keep the program fresh and exciting, several special events are incorporated into the program throughout the year. The Turkey Trot is one example of a Start Your Heart special event, the program is held at the local dogpark in November and open to the public. During this three-hour event, dogs earn doggie bandanas and a turkey dog dinner for miles walked while their owners make a dog toy, design a dog dish and play ball with their pets. More than 200 two--and four--legged participants registered for the Start Your Heart program at this one event last year. There is also a New Year's Resolution seminar and health screening, and a Spring into Step special event with a health screening and fun walk offered the first few weeks of spring.

Since the program began in October 2004, more than 400 participants like Peg Rodrigues and her dog Rusty have registered for the Start Your Heart Program. Rodrigues turned 70 years young this month. She has a family history plagued with stroke and heart problems. She joined the Start Your Heart program in order to benefit her new family member, Rusty. Rusty is Rodrigues' adopted dog from the local animal shelter. He is a young dog of eight months and needs a lot of exercise to keep him in top health, which is a priority for Rodrigues. Both animal and owner walk a mile every morning and sometimes again later in the day. The truly remarkable thing about these two participants is that they support each other. Rodrigues helps Rusty get his exercise and Rusty helps Rodrigues, who has an ICD (defibulator/pace maker), two total knee replacements and arthritis in her back. "Since I began the Start Your Heart program in October 2004, I have lost over 10 pounds and I feel wonderful," Rodrigues says.

The Start Your Heart program heightens the awareness of health issues we face within our communities. It also provides a tool for residents of Sarasota County to improve his or her physical and emotional well being. The program possibilities and partnership opportunities are endless as more participants explore the program.