If you’ve had the pleasure of entering Bloomfield’s municipal building, you will notice something a bit different – signs around the elevators encouraging folks to take the stairs and burn a few extra calories. Recently, Michael Hodges, the Health Educator, and Gail Gutierrez, the Wellness Coach, met with all of the department heads from the Township of Bloomfield to inform them of the new initiative – Take The Stairs.
In addition to informing the directors and gaining their buy in, the team also wanted to explain why physical activity is so important, especially for those with sedentary office jobs. For instance, did you know that even if you exercise, long periods of sitting are associated with:
- Mental Fatigue
- Poor Circulation and Heart Disease
- Bone Loss and Poor Posture
- Slow Metabolism and Insulin Problems
With the help of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and their “StairWELL to Better Health” we found these great motivational signs that we have posted throughout the municipal building.
Supporting physical activity for Bloomfield.
Encouraging messages in the Stairwell
More Messaging by the Elevator
Reminders by the vending machines.
Closer look of vending machine reminders
In addition to taking the stairs, other suggestions for office workers include:
- standing when speaking on the phone.
- walking to a colleague’s desk in lieu of e-mail or phone.
- setting reminders on your computer or phone to take a break from sitting every 1-2 hours.
With these signs and the photos from The Historical Society of Bloomfield http://bloomfieldhistorical.org that we’ll be displaying in the stairwells, we hope to encourage employees and any visitors to the municipal building, who are able, to get that body moving and take the stairs. We’d love to know what you all think. Give us a holler by commenting or liking the blog, and learn more about our programs at http://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/health-human-services/
Interested in supporting your very own mini-campaign to encourage more activity at your workplace? If so, check out the CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/hwi/toolkits/stairwell/index.htm for some helpful resources and ideas.
ShapingNJ Community Pilots 