Baltimore's Seniors Strutt Their Stuff For Healthy City Days

What a week it's been! On Monday Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and I kicked off Healthy City Days with a walk from City Hall to the Inner Harbor. This week has been jam-packed with health fairs, exercise activities and health screenings, all aimed at encouraging people of all ages to step out and get active, to get screened for serious health concerns, get a flu shot, and get educated about individual health.

All week I've been looking forward to today's signature event: Baltimore's Seniors Rock the City. More than 300 seniors from across the city descended upon the Roosevelt Park Recreation Center in Hampden for a day full of activities. The highlight was the large group circle dance led by former Ravens cheerleader and fitness enthusiast Molly Shattuck of Vibrant Living.

The seniors I talked to really enjoyed getting out in the beautiful weather and, in the words of one of our speakers, "shaking what God gave you." Many received flu shots and were screened for high cholesterol. We are fortunate in Baltimore City to have 16 vibrant senior centers where our elder population can go to socialize, engage in group exercise and other fun activities.

It's important that seniors stay active is by engaging in a variety of activities such as walking, dancing, low or moderate aerobics, swimming, _ even shopping. Half an hour of moderate physical activity every day is a good goal to have. You can start at your own pace and slowly increase your activity until you are able to do 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week; which is 150 minutes of physical activity.

Tomorrow we wrap up Healthy City Days at Mondawmin Mall from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with a free health fair and health screenings. Please tell your family and friends so that they too can participate in health education and screenings. I hope this week you were inspired to think about how you can live a healthy life. I know I'm already looking forward to Healthy City Days 2012. What ideas do you have for activities we can incorporate into next year's agenda?

Healthy City Days To Start Sept. 30th

The Health Department, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office, is focused on making Baltimore a healthier city. One major way we are working toward that goal is through the implementation of Healthy Baltimore 2015. Another way we are making Baltimore a healthier city is through initiatives like Healthy City Days.

Photos by Kevin Kane, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield

Today at the Zeta Center for Healthy and Active Aging, I joined representatives from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and the University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore Ravens fullback Vonta Leach, Molly Shattuck and others to announce that beginning September 30^th, we will kickoff Baltimore’s 2^nd annual Healthy City Days. Healthy City Days encompasses eight days of events all over town. The purpose is to get people eating better, exercising more often and focused on prevention and overall wellness.

There will be health fairs with free screenings at University of Maryland, City Hall and several Enoch Pratt library locations. There will also be free screenings at Mondawmin Mall, Department of Social Services locations and many other locations. We’ll even have great family events over the weekend at Port Discovery and other Inner Harbor events.

And during the week there are some great events planned that will get people up and moving. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and I will be walking from City Hall to the Inner Harbor on October 3rd and working out downtown with Monte Sanders on October 4^th. She and I would love for people to step out of their offices for a few minutes and join us at both of these events.

Vonta and Molly led seniors in a dance and stretch routine.

Personally, I am really looking forward to joining Molly Shattuck and Baltimore’s lively seniors in Hampden on October 6^th for a rockin’ dance party.

All you need to do is visit the Healthy City Days Website to see a listing of all these events and more and find one close to you.

It’s my sincere hope that this interactive initiative will engage Baltimore City residents and workers to focus on healthy lifestyle choices and preventive care.

Which Healthy City Days events do you plan to attend?