City officials are willing to participate in "Step Out Lambertville" to increase awareness of the health improvement program.
By: Linda Seida
LAMBERTVILLE How do you get a politician to open his wallet?
Watch Donna Knoell. She did it, and she wasn’t even trying.
Ms. Knoell, program coordinator for Hunterdon Regional Community Health, went to Lambertville’s City Council meeting Feb. 18 to present details of a health improvement program called "Step Out Lambertville … Strides to Better Health." She wanted to invite members of council to get involved but not yet.
Wanting only to make them aware of the program and to ask them to simply consider participating themselves, she said she was stunned when council members and Mayor David Del Vecchio pulled out their wallets on the spot. They were ready to pay the nominal fee that would sign them up and allow them to take part in the six-month program.
For a $10 fee, participants will receive a pedometer to gauge how many steps they walk each day. In the beginning and at the conclusion of the six-month wellness program, they also will take walking and other tests. In addition, they will fill out questionnaires to gauge mood, level of anxiety, sleep quality and their psychological state. The goal is for participants to reach 10,000 steps per day and, in so doing, improve their health by increasing their level of physical activity.
"Apparently 10,000 steps is roughly five miles," Ms. Knoell said, acknowledging it might be a little less or more because the length of each person’s stride is different.
Depending upon their level of pre-program physical activity, participants who hit the benchmark of 10,000 steps could be doubling the number of steps they take in a day.
"Through scientific research, it has been determined that most Americans take between 5,000 and 7,000 steps per day," Ms. Knoell said. "To achieve active health enhancements the Centers for Disease Control and the Surgeon General do tons of research on this people need 30 minutes or 60 minutes of exercise daily."
Studies’ findings have differed on the total amount.
Mayor Del Vecchio is anxious to participate despite already working out six days a week. Along with a friend, he and his wife, Karen Kominsky, the governor’s deputy chief of staff, work out with a personal trainer.
Isn’t six days a week enough?
"Everyone should try to be healthy," Mayor Del Vecchio said.
However, he’s got more reason than most to try to improve his health.
"I have a family history of heart disease," he said. "My father had a triple bypass, and the doctor said, ‘You’re next.’"
In addition, both of his grandmothers died from arteriosclerosis.
It isn’t just the mayor who’s at risk.
"Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and one of the top three causes in Hunterdon County," along with stroke and cancer, according to Ms. Knoell.
"Regular exercise might help prevent the onset of certain diseases that are very prevalent," she said. "A regular exercise routine can help you not get high blood pressure. It can help you not get high cholesterol. It can help you not get diabetes. There are some big problems Americans have that we can work on keeping at bay."
Many Americans are at increased risk for poor health, she said, adding, "It’s largely because of inactivity and (being) overweight."
About half of the adults in this country don’t engage in enough physical activity to achieve health benefits from exercise, according to the CDC. Another 29 percent are not physically active at all.
If Lambertville residents follow the lead of city officials, those statistics won’t hold true in the city.
"Everyone joined," the mayor said of the City Council. Signing up were council President John McManus, Councilwoman Cynthia Ege and Councilman Steven Stegman. Councilwoman Marie Warford was absent.
For more information or to participate in Step Out Lambertville, call (908) 788-6608. The program is made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

