Governor Jim Pillen is encouraging Nebraskans to get more active and develop health habits to help lead a full life, especially as they get older.
During a news conference in Lincoln Friday, Pillen was decked out in a Husker jacket and tennis shoes to lead the Governor’s Walk inside the State Capitol Building.
Pillen said he has learned that as you age, wellness is everything. “I learned a number of years ago there’s such a thing as a functional life, and a geriatric life. Obviously each one of us, no matter what age, we get a little older,” said Pillen, “and the one thing that’s the solution to a functional life, that if you want to do whatever you do at 30 years of age until God calls you home, is you exercise 30 or 40 minutes a day. It is the one pill that is sustainable, and keeps you from a whole lot of pills.”
Statistics show a quarter of Nebraska adults don’t get the amount of activity they should, and obesity among the state’s adult population was 36 percent in 2021, up from 28 percent ten years earlier.
Interim Nebraska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Matthew Donahue also said the goal should be 150 minutes of physical activity a week, and that can be broken up into segments as small as 10 minutes at a time.
Donahue said studies have shown becoming more active not only raises a person’s level of medical wellness, but also plays a significant role in boosting mental health, even reducing dementia.
Also highlighted during the news conference was the Nebraska Sports Council’s WellPower 100 Challenge, which starts Monday.
Miss Nebraska Steffany Lien said those who log at least 100 miles will earn the WellPower 100 badge and qualify for the top-prize drawing, which includes a bike, a kayak, several modern fitness devices and several major gift cards.
Lien’s social impact initiative for the year is to promote strategies to improve physical, mental, and social wellness, and she’s serving as a spokesperson for the 2023 WellPower Movement.
That there are also dozens of lower-tier prizes and over 500 virtual badges in the free web-based activity-tracking program, with more than 8,400 individuals already enrolled, and those interested can still register at WellPowerMovement.com.
