LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, Jan. 14, the Lake County Board of Supervisors provided a forum to launch the countywide Move More 20+14 Challenge.

Move More 20+14 proposes 20 minutes of physical activity daily for the next 14 weeks, as a way to step into 2014 with a resolve to get more physical activity over the course of this year.

Twenty minutes of activity daily comes very close to meeting the 150-minute-per week of physical activity recommended by the nation’s Centers for Disease Control and promoted by numerous other health professionals and organizations.

Physical activity has numerous health benefits, is fun, builds community spirit and is a great way for everyone to combine their energy in lifting up our county’s poor health statistics.

Visit www.movemore2014.org to participate in the challenge, as an individual or as a group.

Since project launch over 675 people (as individuals or as a part of a group) have signed up online.

Several youth are taking photos and posting on the Move More 20+14 Facebook Page ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/movemore2014/ ) about their activities with Rocky the River Otter, a cute plush toy that’s available for groups filled with kids of all ages to join in the fun as they “Rock with Rocky.”

Folks are walking, bowling, running, jump-roping, rowing, playing team sports, hula-hooping and attending various fitness classes from strength training to aerobics, Pilates and yoga.

Everyone is encouraged to do something they enjoy and become part of this exuberant, fun-filled challenge. Taking small steps will lead to BIG rewards of feeling better day by day.

Recent research indicates that sitting too much is becoming the new smoking. Even folks that get regular exercise increase risk for heart disease and diabetes by sitting too much.

Sitting for extended periods of time causes your body to shut down at the metabolic level. When muscles, especially certain leg muscles are immobile, circulation slows. You use less of your blood sugar and burn less fat, which increases risk of heart disease and diabetes.

A 2013 study of nearly 30,000 women found that those who sat nine or more hours a day were more likely to be depressed than those who sat fewer than six hours because prolonged sitting reduces circulation causing fewer feel-good hormones to reach the brain.

In a 12-year study of more than 17,000 Canadians, researchers found that the more time people spent sitting, the earlier they died – regardless of age, body weight, or how much they exercised. Stuart McGill, PhD, director of the Spine Biomechanics Lab at the University of Waterloo says that interrupting sedentary time as often as possible and making frequent posture changes, even taking breaks as short as one minute can improve health.

It’s time to literally stand for health and join the 20+14 MOVEment.

Thanks to each individual who has signed up, to those signing up from sport teams, fitness classes and activity clubs, and to all those organizations that are supporting their employees in forming walking groups, participating in “walking meetings” instead of sitting meetings only, and encouraging taking a hourly break from sitting, as well as promoting other wellness activities.

Thank you to those who are taking on the role of Move More leaders in their group and within organizations.

Move More 20+14 is an activity of “Climb to the Peak of Health”, a countywide collaborative project funded by a Community Transformation Grant awarded to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake by the Centers for Disease Control.

The goal of the overall grant project is to reduce chronic disease. Schools, businesses, county and community-based organizations and health care are joining together to lift the health status of the community. Your participation is welcomed in this first-time opportunity to find fun ways to increase activity and better our personal and community health.