St. Norbert College: Recognized as an American Heart Association fit-friendly community

From: Mike Counter, St. Norbert College, www.snc.edu, 920-403-3089, mike.counter@snc.edu

ST. NORBERT COLLEGE RECOGNIZED AS AN AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION FIT-FRIENDLY COMMUNITY

DE PERE, WIS.: St. Norbert College has been recognized with the Fit Friendly Worksite Innovation Award by the American Heart Association for helping students and employees eat better and move more.

“Student and employee wellness are important priorities at St. Norbert College. We are honored and excited to be recognized by the American Heart Association with the this Innovation Award,” said Barb Bloomer, senior director for Health and Wellness Services, “We’re committed to providing the healthiest environment possible for the overall well-being of our community.”

The Award is given to organizations that lead the development and implementation of innovative programs to promote healthy lifestyles. St. Norbert College’s Health and Wellness Service won the 2014 award for its “SNC Take the Challenge – 7 Weeks of Wellness” program (physical activity, nutrition, stress management and relaxation, spirituality, wellness assessment and time management). This program features presentations on health topics during “Lunchtime Conversations” at which participants are challenged to adopt healthy lifestyle changes. The participants log into a “point tracker” website to document their progress in each wellness area.

In a program completion survey, 95% of participants indicated they were likely or very likely to utilize the healthy lifestyle strategies learned in the “SNC Take the Challenge – 7 Weeks of Wellness” program in the future.

St. Norbert College also received the American Heart Association’s Fit Friendly Worksite Gold Achievement Award. The American Heart Association’s Fit-Friendly Worksites program is a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce, helping worksites make their employees’ health and well being a priority.

“The Fit-Friendly Worksites program offers easy-to-implement ways for organizations to help employees eat better and move more, which will help improve their health – and their employer’s bottom line,” said Gary Umhoefer, director of Human Resources. “Even people who haven’t exercised regularly until middle age can reap significant benefits by starting a walking program. A study published in 1986 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that some adults may gain two hours of life expectancy for every hour of regular, vigorous exercise they perform.”

For more information about the Fit-Friendly Worksites program, visit www.heart.org/worksitewellness. To learn more about St. Norbert College’s program, contact Barb Bloomer at 920-403-3266 or barb.bloomer@snc.edu.