As a proud resident of the Silicon Valley, I’m often tempted to laud the technical and digital health-improvement initiatives of the innovation hub that we live in. Recently, however, I’ve been struck by the simplest of messages promoted by the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States: The easiest thing we can do to make both ourselves and our communities healthier is to … take a walk.
While the benefits of walking have long been promoted by everyone from doctors to your dog, what’s particularly interesting about the surgeon general’s advice is the link between walking and creating walkable communities.
The surgeon general’s office has long promoted a trifecta of healthy eating, active living and emotional well-being. One initiative that is gaining momentum is ‘Step It Up,’ a call to action to promote walking and walkable communities.
If you think about it, the act of walking outside can not only promote your own personal health, it can also promote the health of your community.
Many of us already know the personal health benefits of walking outside: we get fresh air, exercise, and if the sun’s out, we get a dose of vitamin D as well.
But there are benefits beyond those obvious ones.
When we take a walk in our community, we’re quite likely to wave and say hello to our neighbors. We’re likely to make friends with at least some of them, and once that social connectivity happens, it’s likely to benefit our emotional well-being.
In the process, we are also likely to become aware of the comings and goings of the neighborhood. If enough people in a given neighborhood did that, this simple act of walking could build neighborhood ties and make a neighborhood safer.
Yes, there are apps that can connect neighbors and let everyone know what is going on in a locale. But an app can’t replace the look on a child’s face as they pet their neighbor’s dog, the bond that’s built by helping a neighbor get a kite down from a tree and the simple joy of spontaneous human interaction while getting some exercise, fresh air and sunshine.
The surgeon general’s office has made both walking and the presence of walkable communities a national mandate. Let’s do our part. Go take a walk in your neighborhood. Go build a healthier you and a healthier community.
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Neera Siva is a health enthusiast, mom, patent attorney and writer, in no particular order. She and her family live in Santa Clara County. Check out her website athealthierbites.com, or follow her on twitter @neera_avis.
