Join the Ways to Wellness Workplace Challenge
The Ways to Wellness Workplace Challenge is a wellness campaign for workplaces in the KFL&A region. The campaign promotes healthier habits through fun activities that will encourage staff to move more, eat well and sit less at work.
The Ways to Wellness Workplace Challenge can be a small first step to supporting employee health and well-being in the workplace. If you are interested in participating, register your workplace online:
Challenges will run in September, October and November, and are designed for workplaces that are in the office, hybrid or remote. Participation is free, and prize packs—including gift cards, yoga mats, salad spinners, and more—are available for workplaces to award to participating employees. Prizes are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last.
What is the Move More Walking Challenge?
The Move More Walking Challenge is a workplace walking promotion campaign created by KFL&A Public Health. It is a three-week event that promotes walking during and outside of work hours.
This campaign invites employees to team up to reach a cumulative distance goal for the month. Can your workplace cover the distance from Kingston to Toronto? Circle Lake Ontario, or even Lake Superior? This challenge is enhanced with the use of Strava, a mobile application and website that allows users to share their walks (and other activities) with their friends or within clubs. Evidence has shown that technology like this may positively impact physical activity participation.
Why is the Move More Walking Challenge important for your workplace?
In 2020, Canada released new 24-hour movement guidelines for adults. Per week, they recommend muscle strengthening activities at least twice (e.g., weightlifting), several hours of light physical activity (e.g., standing), and accumulating at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity (e.g., walking, running, cycling, etc.). Did you know that on average, only 45 percent of Canadian adults met the recommended 150 minutes per week guideline? Females (38 percent) were less likely to meet the guideline than males (49 percent).
Increased physical activity is tied to improved bone health, cognition, quality of life and physical function. It plays a role in lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, several cancers, anxiety, depression and falls!
As an employer, you can encourage workers to walk during lunch breaks, take short walking breaks throughout the day, or even facilitate walking work meetings. Remember, every metre counts in your workplace’s chosen walking goals! What do you say, are you ready to make walking a part of the workday in the Move More Walking Challenge?
Organizing and participating in the Move More Walking Challenge |
| Registered workplaces will receive a toolkit via email one week prior to the challenge start date. Toolkits will provide workplaces with challenge resources, instructions and tips on how to organize activities and distribute prizes. |
What is the Boost Your Veggies and Fruit Challenge?
The Boost Your Veggies and Fruit Challenge is a campaign with daily challenges to boost the number of times you enjoy veggies and fruit at work or at home. There will be a Boost scorecard included in the toolkit for this challenge, which provides a fun way to track your efforts, which, according to research, is the single most effective strategy for self-improvement and motivation. Track the thing you want to improve!
Why is the Boost Your Veggies and Fruit Challenge important for your workplace?
Since 2015, the number of Canadians reporting having eaten vegetables and fruits five or more times per day has been decreasing (31.5 percent in 2015, 30 percent in 2016, 28.6 percent 2017).
Organizing and participating in the Boost Your Veggies and Fruit Challenge |
| Registered workplaces will receive a toolkit via email one week prior to the challenge start date, which will provide challenge materials, descriptions and tips on how to organize activities and distribute prizes. |
What is the Sit Less Challenge?
The Sit Less Challenge is a workplace sedentary behavior reduction campaign that has been adapted by KFL&A Public Health from Thunder Bay District Health Unit. It is a two-week event that promotes sitting less in the workplace through a series of challenges that are designed to help improve physical and mental well-being while building social connections at work.
KFL&A is providing a daily challenge calendar as well as an alternative Bingo card to help team members track their progress throughout the challenge. Workplaces can choose to follow activities using the challenge calendar, or to distribute the Bingo card to staff to allow employees to complete tasks on whatever day works best for them. Whatever option you choose, we encourage you to try to schedule some group activities for employees to do together throughout the campaign!
Why is the Sit Less Challenge important for your workplace?
Did you know that on average, adults in Canada spend close to 10 hours of their day sitting? Or that fewer than 19 percent of Canadian adults meet sedentary behavior recommendations? Adults employed in office work are even less likely to meet recommendations, spending over 20 percent more time at work sedentary and taking approximately 3,500 fewer steps than other occupational groups.
This is important, as sedentary behavior has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers and even premature death.
When we move more and sit less, it can help lower our risk for these outcomes and keep us healthy. It can also help reduce feelings of fatigue, lower stress levels, boost mood, and improve memory and cognition!
Organizing and participating in the Sit Less Challenge |
| Registered workplaces will receive a toolkit via email one week prior to the challenge start date. Toolkits will provide workplaces with challenge resources, instructions and tips on how to organize activities and distribute prizes. |