MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. – WKMG Local 6 news partner Florida Today reports that this morning at Kennedy Space Center, NASA and state health officials encouraged at least 20 minutes of daily activity to combat the effects of being chained to a desk or stuck in meetings all day.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator to a higher floor. Park further from a building's entrance. Take a stroll during lunch or a break between meetings.
"I think health and fitness are critical to being productive, and it just makes life a whole lot more fun," said Bob Cabana, a former astronaut who leads KSC.
"We in the Department of Health are challenging gravity in a different way," added Florida Surgeon General Dr. John Armstrong, noting that too many Floridians are overweight. "If we don't do something about it now it's going to compound the wrong way and drag us down."
May is National Employee Health and Fitness Month,
Cabana and Armstrong also kicked off NASA Moves!, a two-week competition among NASA centers, with a half-mile jog around a shuttle orbiter-shaped track at Launch Complex 39.
"I expect KSC to be No. 1," Cabana told dozens of employees gathered from among the center's 7,800 civil servants and contractors.
The state also runs the Healthiest Weight Florida initiative to encourage healthy eating and active living. Only 36 percent of Floridians are at a healthy weight, according to the health department.