The Guthrie County Hospital has an event a week from today that local residents are encouraged to attend.

Beginning at noon on October 9th, employees of the hospital and the hospital’s fitness center will participate in a 1k walk around the hospital as part of Iowa’s ‘Healthiest State Initiative’.

The Healthiest State walk began back in 2011, and each of the past two years, over 300,000 people across Iowa have participated in the event.  The Healthiest State Initiative has the goal of turning Iowa into the healthiest state in the nation by 2016.  Right now, Iowa is the 9th healthiest state when it comes to being physically, emotionally and mentally healthy.

The hospital’s fitness center coordinator Diane Duzenberry says the 15-minute walk is a simple, yet necessary step toward the healthiest state goal.

“One of the statistics they give us is by 2020 obesity will be the biggest killer on the planet.  I mean, that’s not that far away.  So to be a part of maybe helping one person get healthy and start to move a little bit is a big thing.  It makes you feel better about yourself, and it might not happen right that day, but it might get a little bug into someone’s head that will turn into something good.”

For more details about the Healthiest State walk, call the hospital’s fitness center at 641-332-3810.