Dongjak-gu Promotes Increasing Physical Activity Including 'Walking Alone Challenge'

Promotion of 6 Physical Activity Projects by Life Cycle Including ▲Walking Mileage ▲Self-Quarantine Kit Support Until December

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Dongjak-gu (Mayor Changwoo Lee) is promoting the "2020. Increasing Physical Activity" project until December to prevent COVID-19 infectious diseases by enhancing self-health management capabilities.

According to the 2019 Community Health Survey results, the walking practice rate in Dongjak-gu is 66.4%, which is 5.9% higher than Seoul's 60.5%. The obesity rate is 30.0%, which is 1.8% lower than Seoul's 31.8%, and it decreased by 2.7% compared to 2018.

This project aims to promote physical activity in daily life to achieve ▲enhancement of self-immunity and prevention of infectious diseases ▲creation of a healthy physical activity atmosphere amid social distancing ▲establishment of a health promotion environment for local residents ▲improvement of health behavior and increase in healthy lifestyle practice rates.

First, through the walking mileage project, it promotes ▲the Solo Walking Challenge ▲support for the Noryangjin examinees' health promotion community.

The Solo Walking Challenge is a walking program operated monthly for Dongjak-gu residents using the walking app ‘WalkOn’ in nearby parks or at home where walking is convenient.

This month, from the 10th to the 16th, residents who walked more than 10,000 steps on at least three days and successfully completed missions such as ‘thumbs up in front of the Dongjak Chungyo-gil logo’ will receive gifticons, awarded to the top 50 by step count.

In particular, for Noryangjin goshiwon examinees, the district has opened the ‘Noryangjin Examinees Community’ on the ‘WalkOn’ app as a non-face-to-face communication channel, providing integrated mobile services with COVID-19 response health center health promotion news and information on physical activity, nutrition, smoking cessation, and alcohol moderation.

Additionally, physical activity kits are provided to support health promotion for self-quarantined individuals prohibited from outdoor activities for two weeks. The kits, consisting of ▲massage balls ▲exercise bands ▲educational materials, encourage indoor activities and offer integrated physical and mental support services in connection with the district health center’s mental health team.

To improve the physical strength and boost immunity of elderly residents weakened by refraining from outdoor activities, physical activity programs for seniors linked with local welfare centers and physical activity kits for home use will be provided.

Moreover, through life-cycle physical activity promotion projects such as ▲infant and toddler physical activity programs ▲child and adolescent obesity prevention projects ▲outdoor walking club programs, the district aims to enhance residents’ health.

Physical Activity Kit for Self-Quarantined Individuals and the Elderly

Im Jongyeol, Director of Health Planning, said, “We will gradually implement customized non-face-to-face physical activity programs for residents who need self-health management due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to discover projects that promote residents’ health.”