Colorado residents rank as the nation's leanest, and they're not resting on their laurels. "The fact that nearly 19 percent of adults in our state are obese is cause for concern," says Maren Stewart, president and CEO of LiveWell Colorado, a nonprofit committed to reducing obesity by inspiring healthy eating and active living. "LiveWell Colorado is leading the way in challenging Colorado to become healthier."
The organization kicked off a campaign on September 30th with flash mobs in Denver, Greeley and Grand Junction. In each city, more than 100 people wearing 1980s-inspired workout gear did aerobics, to the amusement of passersby. (View video at
www.livewellcolorado.org/challenge.)
Since then, billboards and TV commercials have urged residents to eat right and be more active. Naturally, the campaign also includes ad specialties. LiveWell distributed stencils of its logo and spray chalk to groups in 25 communities across the state, where local organizers are using them as they draw hopscotch courts and start/finish lines for footraces. The local groups also got stickers to place on elevator buttons. The stickers read, "Take the stairs."
"The elevator buttons are just a perfect example of an easy, small, free way of incorporating a little bit of physical activity in your life by taking the stairs up a flight or two as opposed to the elevator," Stewart says. "Hopscotch is a game everyone remembers how to play, and it's something fun and whimsical that will hopefully grab people's attention."
The idea behind the campaign is not to try to talk people into onerous workouts but to incorporate little activities that are easy to sustain. "I'm hoping that it will catch people off-guard, because they are unexpected tactics," Stewart says, "and adults in business suits and kids out of school and everybody in between will be participating in some of these things."
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