Regular physical activity and good mental health are essential for preventing chronic diseases. These are serious public health concerns that require effective interventions to encourage positive behavior change. Walking Kentucky is a community campaign designed to increase physical activity and promote health awareness in Kentucky. You don't need any special equipment or location to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. By joining Walking Kentucky, participants are given the tools to lead a more active lifestyle.

 The eight-week walking challenge aimed to increase participants' regular physical activity and improve health outcomes for Kentucky citizens. The Bullitt, Henry, Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, and Trimble Family and Consumer Sciences Agents collaborated to implement a four-hundred-and-seventeen-mile "Walking Kentucky" Challenge as an innovative strategy to encourage movement among Louisville area residents.

 Through this program, participants were empowered to improve their health behaviors by making lifestyle choices that increased physical activity. One hundred and twenty four adults participated in the program with 60 being from Bullitt County. Seventy participants completed the evaluation with eighty-seven percent of them feeling they achieved their fitness goals. Ninety-seven percent reported exercising for thirty minutes, three or four times a week or more, after becoming aware of the benefits of regular physical activity.

 At the end of the program, participants shared their positive experiences, such as losing six pounds, feeling more motivated to move, achieving more steps in a day, and enjoying friendly competition with co-worker and friends. One "Bullitt County" resident was heard telling a group at her Homemaker Club meeting, this was a great way to help me get active. You all should sign up next time and participate.  Have your friends participate even if they are not Homemakers.