Collier encourages residents to work out

Skip that candy bar and can of soda.

Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Simple stuff, but it’s not sinking in.

The state Department of Health’s third annual “Step Up, Florida!” campaign is under way to encourage residents to get moving with physical activity to help fight obesity and chronic illnesses related to excess weight and inactivity.

The statewide campaign involves all 67 counties participating in a “fitness flag” relay event, where teams of residents walk, run or bicycle in their community and pass a flag to participants in the adjoining county. Four flags are launched at route sites and will end up in Tallahassee on Feb. 28 for a grand finale.

Another option involves communities conducting localized events to promote physical activity, and that’s what the Collier County Health Department chose to do, said department spokeswoman Deb Millsap. Nevertheless, Collier is one of the four sites where fitness flags are being launched and the flag will be handed over to Lee County on Wednesday.

The health department received $6,000 in funding from the state’s chronic disease prevention fund and was awarded four $1,000 grants to local groups for their programs that promote physical activity. In addition, a $2,000 grant was given to the Collier County Health Promotion Coalition, which works on programs in the community to get people active.

In Collier, 49 percent of the population is considered overweight while 18 percent of local adults are obese, according to the health department; 11 percent of high schools students are obese and 17 percent are overweight.

The PACE Center for Girls in Immokalee, an alternative school for at-risk girls, is one of the $1,000 grant recipients. The money is being used to replace fitness equipment that was destroyed during Hurricane Wilma last October. In addition, the 40 students at the school held a field day Monday to practice for their spring Olympics.

Another $1,000 grant went to the Collier County Housing Authority, the management group for Farm Worker Village in Immokalee, which has formed a dance group to perform traditional dances from Mexico and instill pride in the culture. The dancers are residents from the village, 12 to 18 years old.

A third grant recipient is Gulfview Middle School in Naples, where students this week will engage in a poster contest about healthy eating and active living. The contest judging will be held Friday, Millsap said. With the $1,000, the school is purchasing timer equipment for running or walking competitions among the students.

The last $1,000 grant went to Osceola Elementary School to purchase aerobic step equipment. The students today will take part in a new aerobic step class.

“We really wanted to highlight some innovative programs in our community that promote active living versus just inviting people out for one day to walk (with the fitness flag),” Dr. Joan Colfer, the department’s director, said in a prepared statement.

The remaining $2,000 is going to the health promotion coalition to help launch its new Web site about where people can pursue physical activities in the community. Some of the money also will go toward providing doctors with a tool kit to promote physical activity among their patients, Millsap said. Research has shown that if doctors are clear with patients about getting 30 minutes or more of exercise each day and how to accomplish it, the patients tend to be more compliant, she said.