Fort Wayne gets "Started" on Road to Healthier Lifestyle

For every hour you're active you extend your life by two hours.

So how will you spend your extra two hours?

“If you don't feel like getting active that day, that's a good reason to do so” says Mike Stetzel of the Heart Association Heart Walk.

Parkview Health and Physicians Health Plan have teamed up with the American Heart Association to get Fort Wayne started on the road to a healthier lifestyle.

“The name of the program is start so we're getting started” says Vicki Lee Johnson of Physicians Health Plan.

“Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of Americans, if you add up the next six causes they don't equal up to heart disease. It's a huge problem” adds Stetzel.

Fort Wayne residents have a 42-percent rate each year when it comes to heart disease.

“What better way to get started than walking?” says Sue Ehinger, COO of Parkview Hospital.

Consider this: if you get active just 10 minutes a day, 3 times a week, after a year you'll gain another day of life.

Representatives from Parkview and PHP took turns walking on treadmills during the entire TinCaps game tonight. Mayor Tom Henry even got in on the action.

“This is one way to get the word out to people in our community to eat right and to get tested regularly for those diseases that are preventable and also how to get good exercise” says Henry.

To get started on your road to a healthier lifestyle head to www.americanheart.org/start.

And to register for the upcoming Northeast Indiana Start Heart Walk to be held on Saturday, September 19, head to www.fortwayneheartwalk.kintera.org