More than 360,000 people have signed up for the second season of a nationwide challenge to take a certain number of steps every day that will wrap up by the end of the month.
This is more than double the number of sign-ups in the first season of the Health Promotion Board's (HPB) National Steps Challenge, bringing the total number of participants to more than 500,000.
Participants earn points after taking a stipulated minimum number of steps each day. They can use the points to redeem rewards, such as shopping and grocery vouchers.
The rewards redemption for Season Two ended on Feb 28 but the points earned till April 30 will give participants the chance to win Grand Draw prizes, such as airline tickets and gym memberships.
-
You can work towards your target with these simple activities:
-
1
80 to 100 steps: Walking up two storeys for a meeting at work.
2
100 steps: Taking the stairs instead of the escalator or lift at an MRT station.
3
1,000 steps: Walking for 10 minutes.
Through this initiative, the HPB hopes to nudge people into being more active as studies have shown that this improves health.
Taking 7,500 to 10,000 steps daily can help lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels, said an HPB spokesman. It can also lead to improved glucose control, as well as reduce the risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases, he said.
The 10,000-steps-a-day target is not hard to achieve if you exercise regularly.
For instance, an hour of playing badminton or soccer is equivalent to about 10,350 steps.
A 30-minute tennis session amounts to 5,200 steps and an hour-long Zumba class is about 9,600 steps.
Joyce Teo
