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SUCCESS STORIES

PROGRAM IMPACT
Mississippi In Motion encourages program participants to make positive lifestyle behavior changes, such as eating a healthier diet and incorporating more physical activity (walking) into their lives. In addition, they learn about chronic diseases and how these positive lifestyle changes can ameliorate some of the chronic disease conditions. In our pilot studies, participants have increased their fruit and vegetable consumption and increased their physical activity determined by pedometer usage. According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, programs promoting step goals - such as walking 10,000 steps per day- can encourage people to exercise enough to reap health benefits. All steps count towards the goal, whether walking around town, at the office, or up hills. In Oktibbeha County alone, the calculated savings in the community pilot for the two hundred and eighty-six participants was $266,400 if they had joined a fitness/weight loss program.

Physical inactivity and unhealthy diet play a major role in contracting many chronic diseases and conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. In heart disease costs alone, $5.6 billion could be saved if just 10% of adults began a regular walking program (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention).