Lexington, KY - When Kathleen Martin, the vice president of Get Healthy Lexington - a partnership organization for local businesses interested in making the community more healthy - saw Lexington ranked as the most sedentary city in the nation by Men's Health magazine, she, like many other local residents, saw the title as a scurrilous blemish. She also saw it as an opportunity, and she wasn't going to take it sitting down. Never waste a good crisis, as the saying goes.
"It actually puts a little wind in our sails and allows us to make some noise," Matin said.
Through the month of July, Get Healthy Lexington will be taking photo submissions from Lexington residents doing anything other than sitting around being lazy. "We want to see their best not-sitting pictures," she said, the more comical the better (photos must be "G" rated in nature).
All of the collected photos will be used to create a video montage, which will be sent to the editors of Men's Health magazine as a rebuttal to their findings. The video will also be sent to Stephen Colbert, the host of Comedy Central's satirical news program "The Colbert Report," who, only a day after the rankings were released, ran an unflattering, though highly risible, segment about Lexington's sedentary title.
Included with the video will be an invitation to come to Lexington to participate in a special "non-sedentary" event Get Healthy Lexington plans to host, the details of which will be announced at a later date.
While Martin questions the metrics Men's Health magazine used in determining their city rankings, she says Lexington does have some health and fitness issues that need to be addressed. "Do we have health problems? We do. We're not alone in that problem," she said. "We have some legacy health problems that are just part of living in the area, but we have some unique opportunities," such as the more than 120 public parks, golf courses, and an increasing number of bike lanes and trails.
Interestingly, in spite of the ranking from Men's Health, Martin says a lot of residents are utilizing these facilities. "Do I see people using them? All day," she said.
For the fitness-phobics, Martin says you don't have to have a full-blown exercise routine to make a difference in your lifestyle.
"It's not just exercising," she said. "It's incorporating daily activities into what you're doing."
To submit a video, or for more information about Get Healthy Lexington, visit www.gethealthylexington.net.