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Healthy activity kits

A healthy, active lifestyle is essential in managing and preventing both type 2 diabetes and the many related health complications that are associated with it. By far, the easiest and possibly cheapest way to get more active and healthier is to make some changes to your diet and include some regular activity into your lifestyle – such as walking.

The many benefits of walking

Walking is both easy and cheap, and unlike many other forms of exercise, it doesn’t require any specific skill or knowledge to do it. You can do it anywhere, anytime, for as long or as short as you want, and as fast or as slow as you wish to go.

Not only is it easy to do, but it is also extremely good for your health and wellbeing.

For those with diabetes, walking can help improve blood glucose control and insulin sensitivity. It can also reduce reliance on medications and reduce the risk of developing diabetes related complications.

If you don’t have diabetes, walking is a great activity that can significantly help to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It can also assist in the prevention of many other chronic diseases, such as heart disease and hypertension. Brisk walking is comparable to vigorous intensity exercise for reducing the incidence of coronary events when the total amount of energy expended is the same.

Walking has also been shown to have many other benefits. It can also:

• improve heart health;
• assist with weight loss;
• reduce cholesterol and other blood fat levels;
• improve blood pressure;
• lower resting heart rates;
• improve cardiovascular fitness;
• reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis (weight bearing exercise);
• increase musculoskeletal strength and endurance; and
• improve management of arthritis.

So how much walking do you need to do for good health?

The Australian Physical Activity Guidelines recommend adults participate in 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most, if not all days of the week. In regards to walking, this is about 30 minutes of walking at a brisk pace. However, there are other ways of measuring your daily physical activity levels, other than just time spent walking. After all, how many of us know exactly how much we do?

One way is by measuring the number of steps you take in a day. It is recommended for good health that you try to take between 10,000 and 12,000 steps a day. It sounds like a lot, but start slowly and work your way towards that goal.

Count to 10,000 with a pedometer

The question remains though: how do you actually measure how many steps you take in one day?

You can do just that a pedometer, a small gadget that attaches to your belt and measures each step you take. They’re small, easy to use, portable, fairly reliable and inexpensive, compared to most exercise equipment.

They’re also especially useful when you’re trying to increase your level of physical activity in your everyday lifestyle.

Pedometers are great for providing:

• motivation;
• feedback on how you’re doing;
• gentle reminders when you’re not doing enough; and
• physical activity challenges or goals.

While pedometers do have some drawbacks, in that they can’t measure other types of activity such as cycling or swimming and can be unreliable at high walking/running speeds, they still remain a good motivational tool for the majority of people.

The Healthy Activity Kit

That’s why Diabetes Australia-NSW has developed the Healthy Activity Kit. The Healthy Activity Kit is designed to help you take your first steps towards good health. It comes with information about walking and a pedometer to count your steps and keep you motivated.

It also has healthy lifestyle information, such as fact sheets about physical activity, good food choices and the Glycemic Index explained. The kit also contains information about pre-diabetes and reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Finally, the kit has a waist circumference measurement tape so you can measure your waist, know your risk of chronic disease and help monitor your improvements.

For $20 a kit, you get a:

• pedometer;
• waist circumference tape measure;
• pamphlet on walking to good health; and
• five informative fact sheets.

The pedometer alone normally retails for $20 in the Diabetes Australia-NSW retail outlets and most sporting goods stores, so the Healthy Activity Kit really is value for money.

So here’s your chance: get out there and get moving!

Purchase your Physical Activity Kit from Diabetes Australia-NSW through our retail outlets, by downloading an order form or by calling our Customer Care Line on 1300 136 588. You might also like to speak to one of our Exercise Physiologists, Dietitians or Diabetes Educators through the Customer Care Line for more information or further advice.