{"id":9945,"date":"2018-05-03T10:54:16","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T14:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/?p=9945"},"modified":"2018-05-03T10:54:16","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T14:54:16","slug":"columbia-steps-up-for-national-walk-at-lunch-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/columbia-steps-up-for-national-walk-at-lunch-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia steps up for National Walk at Lunch Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0Shawn Skillman, a spokesman for Blue Cross Blue Shield in South Carolina, hopes people will “walk through lunch” instead of work through their lunch hour to improve their health.<\/p>\n

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Nearly 1,000<\/strong>\u00a0people showed up to walk the four laps around the State House at National Walk at Lunch Day.<\/p>\n

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Barbara and Richard Walkers have been faithful attendants of Walk at Lunch Day\u00a0for the 11 years. When they are not walking, they get their exercise from square dancing, which they started as a date night in 1982.<\/p>\n

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Tonna Okei is the chairman of an African community organization of Columbia. He believes events like the Walk at Lunch Day are great for encouraging unity in the Columbia community.<\/p>\n

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Columbia put its foot forward on April 26 for National Walk at Lunch Day.<\/p>\n

Nearly\u00a0<\/span>\u00a01,000 people showed up during their lunch hour to walk the four laps around the\u00a0State House, the distance of a mile.\u00a0Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina partnered with local businesses to bring about the 11th National Walk at Lunch Day, an event meant to encourage a healthier life style.<\/p>\n

“You hear people saying all the time, ‘I’m going to work through lunch.’ Well, Blue Cross Blue Shield wants you to walk through lunch,”\u00a0said Shawn Skillman, media relations strategist for the health insurance company.<\/p>\n

The company encourages people to walk 30 minutes for one day in hope of kickstarting\u00a0healthy habits.<\/p>\n

“You started walking at lunch today, ok,\u00a0what about Monday of next week? What about Wednesday of next week? What about a month from today?” Skillman said. “As you start doing this more, maybe a month goes by and you realize you walked every day this month and fell great. Thats our goal.”<\/p>\n

According to the American Heart Association, walking at least 30 minutes a day has a plethora of health benefits such as:<\/p>\n