Texas First in Vaccinations
By Jessica Coleman, Contributing Writer Jackson and other counties across the state are gearing up for Walk Across Texas, an exercise initiative designed to help people get out of their homes, and get active. The event is a product of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and 2021 is Jackson County’s sixth year taking part in the program.
Walk Across Texas is a free program which encourages teams of participants to, over the course of eight weeks, walk a combined total of 832 miles – the distance across Texas from east to west. Participants may create teams of two to eight people, join a team, or walk as an individual.
Courtney Mercer, of the Jackson County branch of the AgriLife Extension said that in a team of eight, if each member walks 13 miles a week, or just shy of two miles a day, the team will reach its goal of 832 miles.
The mileage provides a solid goal, but is not really the point of the program, According to Mercer. Individuals who participate without a team aren’t likely to walk 14 miles a day, after all. The point is to make physical activity into a habit.
“We should be getting between 20 and 60 minutes of exercise a day,” said Mercer, “and this helps you create that exercise routine.”
The event begins on Feb. 1, so there is still plenty of time to grab a few friends and start a team. To participate, go to walkacrosstexas.org, scroll down to the “WAT Adult” button, and follow the instructions. Returning participants can simply log in, and new participants can sign up either as an individual or a team member. Weekly prizes will be awarded for top individuals and teams.
According to research from the Family & Community Health Unit of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, a study now published in BMC Public Health confirmed the effectiveness of the Walk Across Texas! Program to increase and maintain physical activity over 8-weeks, even in inactive or low-active participants.
“With the known difficulties many people face in just getting started with physical activity, one of the most encouraging findings from this study is that the Walk Across Texas! Program not only attracted participants from all physical activity levels, it was able to help inactive and low active participants become and remain physically active over the course of the program,” said Mark D. Faries, PhD, an associate professor in family & community health, and principal investigator for the research.
Despite its 20-year history of successful implementation, the Walk Across Texas! Program has never been formally evaluated. “With the strong history of Walk Across Texas!, its many success stories, alongside the limited research on the effectiveness of community- and web-based physical activity programs, this study provided us an opportunity to more formally determine the evidence-base for Walk Across Texas!,” said Dr. Faries.
To this end, the research team examined week-one to week-eight changes in self-reported physical activity in over 11,000 adults who participated in the program in 2016, which aimed to provide insight into the statewide program’s effectiveness. They also wanted to see if any changes in physical activity occurred across various physical activity levels, ages, genders and races/ethnicities.
Overall, the study results found that self-reported physical activity significantly improved from week 1 to week 8, increasing an average of nearly 5 miles per week, which translates to an additional 11,000 steps/week. Surprisingly, similar results were found for all activities levels, and improvements did not vary between genders, ages or race/ethnicities.
Questions can be directed to the Jackson County AgriLife Extension office at 361-782-3312 or by email courtney.mercer@ag.tamu.edu.