LEWISBURG National Womens Health and Fitness Day took center stage Wednesday at Country Cupboard, Lewisburg.

Evangelical Community Hospital educators conducted blood pressure and other screenings. Speakers stressed the importance of regular physical activity and health awareness for women.

Health and fitness-related vendors also set up displays.

The morning was highlighted by a talk and demonstration by Taryn Wilk, community health educator. She opened by asking the gathering whether audience members would take a magic pill which could actually strengthen and improve health and brain function.

The bad news is that there is no magic pill. she said. The good news is that thanks to a growing body of research, we now know that exercise has all of these effects and more.

Wilk led a series of simple exercises including hand and arm movements in a pattern and walking around the room in an irregular pattern. Safe punching the air ahead of each person was encouraged. Mental routines included greeting each other to remember another persons name.

Kerin Cook, of Physical Therapy of Evangelical, told her breakout session that core strength could improve balance, posture, continence and sexual function.

Kimberly Criswell, an Evangelical dietitian-nutritionist, discussed the importance of lab tests to monitor for prediabetes.

Stress and sleep deprivation, Criswell said, can exacerbate the conditions which could lead to a prediabetic diagnosis. Exercising steadily for about 150 minutes per week was helpful, as was losing 5% to 7% body weight for most people.

Stacie Gill, Evangelical associate vice president for capital planning, projects and facilities, offered a brief history of the institution from its founding in the mid-1920s to PRIME, its most recent expansion. Gill noted that Evangelical has expanded in every decade of its existence, and that PRIME was on schedule to open in summer 2020.

Gill also asked how many of the dozens of women attending in the Kelly Room at Country Cupboard had either been born or given birth at Evan. More than half raised their hands, with some noting they had done both.

More than 500 groups nationwide were scheduled to hold similar fitness events Wednesday with an estimated 70,000 women expected to participate.

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National Women's Health and Fitness Day observed | Local News - Milton Daily Standard