Thousands participated in the month-long Ramadan campaign. Doha, Qatar 6 September 2014 The winners of Aspetar’s Ramadan walking competitions were recognised in an official award ceremony on Wednesday 3rd September. The competitions were part of the hospital’s overwhelmingly popular ‘Step into Health’ 'SIH' programme, which wereestablished to encourage local residents community to maintain an active lifestyle during the Holy month of Ramadan. The award ceremony, organised by the Healthy Lifestyle Department at Aspetar, took place at the hospital, and was attended by a number of senior officials-. Mr Abdullah Saeed Al Mohannadi, Health Promotion Researcher, spoke about the competition’s role as part of Aspetar’s successful campaign , saying:

“The concept of ‘Step into Health’ walking competition for Ramadan was first conceived because fasting during the summer can be very demanding. The act of fasting can also discourage people from exercising in order to conserve energy. We actively promoted this competition before Ramadan in order to encourage people to stay fit”.

“I commend the winners. I hope that they will serve as an example to the community and the rest of the programme’s participants. Everyone should be motivated to walk 10,000 or more steps a day as walking really is a fantastic way to stay fit,” Mr Al Mohannadi continued. Explaining the significance of the popularity of the competition, he added, “The initiative was open to the public, and the overwhelming number of people who participated demonstrates how the local community is becoming more interested in adopting healthy lifestyles.” The first Ramadan competition was specifically open to ‘Step into Health’ members. Participants were encouraged to walk 10,000 steps a day for the entire month. A combined total of over 417 million steps were taken by all SIH members during Ramadan, with approximately 500 members averaging 10,000 steps or more a day. Talal Abdulla Al Ansari commented on the competition:

“Aspetar’s Ramadan walking programme is an excellent initiative; it helped me take that first step of actually going outside and walking. Over the course of the competition, I not only lost weight, but I have managed to keep it off, too. Using the complimentary pedometer on a daily basis and uploading my results every two weeks helped me stay motivated. Plus, not only was it easy to follow, but it also encouraged interaction between participants”.

The second competition was open to the whole community and took place at Aspire Dome. Members of the public were encouraged to take 10,000 steps every day using the Dome as their primary walking venue. Participants were given the use of pedometers to record their steps and to keep track of their progress. Furthermore, sixteen additional prizes were handed out by Aspetar during the ceremony. Awards were given to the top walkers who had averaged 10,000 steps or more for the last 18 months, with some members taking between 12,000 and 60,000 steps a day. The winners included Qatari resident aged 29 yers old, who walked over 19 months, averaged 20,000 steps day. As a long-term member of Step into Health Abdullah Muftah Alkhulaifi praised the initiative ‘I have been a member of the programme since its launch in 2012. I really enjoy walking I think it is a great form of exercise I have seen a noticeable difference in my fitness levels as well as my overall health . Aspetar is constantly inventing new ways to encourage members of the programme to stay motivated, such as this summer’s walking competitions. Thank you Aspetar for creating such a wonderful programme!’ . ‘Step into Health’ is a self-managed lifelong community health programme designed to inspire positive attitude changes by encouraging residents to eat healthily and exercise regularly. Already 32000 became members of Step into Helath Programme including students of 7 universities and 9 companies who have registered in the programme.