Today is known as April Fool’s Day around the country, but did you know that tomorrow brings with it another national day of significance?

That’s right, tomorrow is National Walking Day, and the staff at Guthrie County Hospital is using it as a means to wrap up their participation in Live Healthy Iowa’s 13th Annual 10-Week Wellness Challenge.

Physical therapist Jessica Carney explains what she and hospital staff will be doing tomorrow to celebrate.

“We’re going to have all the employees–not just those that participated in Live Healthy Iowa but all employees–meet at Sneakers (Cafe), and we’re going to go on a walk over the lunch hour on April 2nd for National Walking Day.  We’re also inviting anybody who wants to come and walk with us to be a part of it, not just employees but people in the community and their friends and family.”

Carney says National Walking Day is an initiative organized by the American Heart Association each year that simply “encourages people to increase their activity level.”

She adds that just 30 minutes of daily walking, while it may not seem like much, can have lasting and positive benefits for one’s health.

“Stats from the American Heart Association report that one out of two men and one out of three women are at a risk for heart disease.  You may not think that 30 minutes is a great amount of time, which really it’s not, but 30 minutes of increasing your activity each day can actually help to decrease your risk of developing heart disease.  If we can start making that a habit, making exercise and activity a habit, we can really reduce our risk of not only heart disease but some other diseases (too).”

If any area residents would like to walk with Guthrie County Hospital during tomorrow’s National Walking Day, contact Carney at 641-332-3810.

More information about National Walking Day can be found by CLICKING HERE.