June 16, 2006

Governor visits Capitol Mid-week Farmers’ Market June 21
Stop Promotes Healthy Kansas Initiative

Emphasizing the importance of increasing daily exercise and eating a nutritious diet, Governor Kathleen Sebelius will visit the Capitol Mid-Week Farmers’ Market in downtown Topeka on June 21 at 9 a.m. to sample homegrown Kansas produce and products while promoting the HealthyKansas ‘Change Something’ initiative.

Governor Sebelius said, “We have more than 30,000 Kansans working in and around the Capitol complex. What a great combination of physical activity and healthy eating by walking from your office to the Capitol Farmers’ Market. It’s a great lunch outing. Not only are we supporting homegrown Kansas products but changing behaviors that will have a profound effect on health for a lifetime. Whether it’s increasing physical activity each week or eating a more nutritious diet, changing these types of behaviors result in a much healthier Kansas.”

“I’m urging all Kansans to join me in taking the HealthyKansas pledge to change something in their health behavior for a lifetime,” she said.

HealthyKansas ‘Change Something’ is about encouraging children in schools, adults in the workplace and seniors in their community to make simple, but powerful lifestyle changes focusing on:

• Increasing physical activity to 30 minutes daily five to six times each week
• Eating healthy, including five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily
• Eliminating or significantly reducing tobacco use

Governor Sebelius launched the HealthyKansas initiative in November 2004 as a comprehensive program of working to control health care costs, creating improved health care delivery systems to Kansans and bringing awareness to the dangers of obesity in children and adults by encouraging them to ‘change something’ in their lifestyles.

The market is open every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. along 10th Street between Jackson and Harrison Streets October 25 in downtown Topeka and is open to the public. The market is a joint effort between the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Commerce.

To learn more about how you can ‘change something,’ or to complete an on-line pledge card, log onto - www.healthykansas.org.