Area to get “Fitness Fever”

Ken Johnston
Editor

For the second year in a row the Rainy River health unit is spearheading “Fitness Fever” in the west Rainy River District.
Heidi Ivall of the Northwestern Health Unit and the Healthy Communities Coalition (HCC) are hoping that during the month of February that people will participate in the program which encourages people to eat better and get more active.
“This is the time of year people seem to really want to kick-start healthy habits,” said Ivall. “To participate we are encouraging people to do their best to eat at least five servings of fruit and/or vegetables and do something active for a minimum of 30 minutes each day of the month.”
Ivall stressed that the actual recommended daily intake of fruit and/or vegetables is 5-10 servings a day. However many people do not even eat five per day. A serving is defined as 1 medium fruit (about 1/2 cup of cut up fruit), 1/2 cup of 100% fruit juice, 1/4 cup of dried fruit, 1/2 cup raw or cooked vegetables, 1 cup raw leafy vegetables, and 1/2 cooked beans or peas.
The activities people can do to be active are almost limitless. The list of suggested ones provided by the HCC include walking, making snow-angels, ice skating, bowling, hall walking at the school, playing ping-pong or pool and many others. “You do not have to do it all at once. You can do fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen at night... whatever fits your schedule best,” said Ivall.
Everyone participating in the health promotion will be asked to keep track of how many servings of fruit/veggies they ate each day and write what they did to be active on a “Fitness Fever Calendar.” The calendars are available at the Northwestern Health Unit in Rainy River, the Rainy River Record Office, Beaver Mills Market, RR Toy Library and from Nurse Practitioner Nicole Therien a the RR Clinic, Stratton Toy Library, Stratton Community Store, Petersons Food Town in Bergland, Roseberry Runway in Barwick and the Barwick Fitness Centre.
People who do not want to head out of doors in the cold and slippery conditions can take advantage of the heated hallways of Rainy River High School. “We just received permission to allow public hall walking from 7:30-8:15 in the mornings and from 6:45-8:45 in the evenings. People are asked to use the south west entrances.
Once the month is complete participants will be asked to turn their sheets into the health unit by March 7th. Prizes will be given for top achievers and some will be awarded randomly.
“This is a fun approach to it and hopefully people will feel better through the combination of nutrition and activity,” said Ivall.