By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Kentucky has launched a year-long initiative to improve Kentuckians’ health and wellness through small, sustainable steps.

Gov. Andy Beshear said at an Oct. 31 news conference that the initiative, called Our Healthy Kentucky Home, “will connect to a number of others you’ll see coming out in the future, about making sure we’re living good, healthy lives, about making sure that our relatives are with us longer, about making sure we’re more productive and that we feel better,”

Kentucky Department for Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack highlighted some of the state’s alarming health statistics. Using survey data from 2022, Stack said 38% of Kentucky adults are obese, 26% do not engage in exercise outside of work, 45% eat less than two fruits per day, 20% eat less than one vegetable per day and 17% smoke cigarettes.

“Taken together, these behaviors increase blood pressure, increase obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other illnesses that diminish the quality of and shorten the length of our lives,” he said at the news conference.

Stack then recognized that while it may seem that taking action to address these things might sound insurmountable, there is “great news.”

“Small and simple actions, things each of us can do with a little planning and encouragement can produce enormous benefits and improvements in our health,” he said. “And the greatest gains are . . . realized by those who start from doing nearly nothing to doing just something.”

Key goals of the campaign

The key goals of the year-long campaign are for Kentuckians to eat two servings of fruits and vegetables daily, to exercise at least 30 minutes, three times per week, and to engage with others and to stay connected.

Stack expanded on why each of these goals is important, noting that by making plans to eat more fruits and vegetables every day, the habit will eventually become a normal part of a person’s day.

When it comes to increasing exercise, Stack noted that this is important because extended periods of sitting can elevate a person’s blood pressure and blood sugar and can cause damage to the spine.

“Undoing this damage doesn’t take much,” he said. “In fact, walking for as little as 15 minutes after a meal and or walking five minutes out of every hour in the day can have dramatically positive improvements in lowering our blood pressure and our blood sugar.”

Stack also cited the U.S. Surgeon General’s 2023 report about the nation’s epidemic of isolation and loneliness, despite the amount of time people spend on social media.

“This directly contributes to stress, anxiety and depression. We feel less connected and lonelier than ever, all of which diminish our health and happiness,” he said. “To counteract these harms, our goal here is to ensure that all of us spend more in-person, social and technology free time with each other over the next 12 months.”

In addition, Stack said DPH will complement these goals by providing additional information and education on a different health topic every month on the campaign’s website: OurHealthyKYHome.ky.gov.

Beshear urged Kentuckians to participate in this campaign, noting that it has the potential to create intergenerational change as young people see their parents making healthy changes in their lives.

“It’ll make us individually more healthy, but it’s also going to make all of our communities more vibrant,” Beshear said. “So let’s do this. Let’s take this on.”