Doha 8th February 2015: As part of Aspire Zone Foundation festivities for Qatar National Sport Day, Aspetar, through its leading Healthy Lifestyle Programme (HLP), will join in the celebrations by offering the public the opportunity to become more active. The 5000 Steps Journey is being organised through the popular Step Into Health (SIH) programme, which promotes walking as a form of physical activity for a healthier lifestyle. Many exciting activities will take place with Aspetar during Qatar National Sport Day, which is being held on February 10th at Aspire Park, and The 5000 Steps Journey will take place from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, right after the Fun Run. The activity will be targeting families, adults and kids. Attendees will be invited to walk on a clearly outlined walking route in order to achieve the 5000 steps, which is about 40 minutes’ walk. At the start of the route the adults will receive a Walking Booklet, while the kids will receive an Activity Sheet, which they will need to collect all 12 stamps (for adults) and stickers (for children) being handed out by volunteers along the route. Once they have received all the stamps and stickers they will be able to proceed to the giveaway station to collect their well-earned reward!. As part of the celebrations of Qatar National Sport Day, Aspetar will also organise an Award Ceremony for the winners of the Step Into Health in Workplaces Walking Challenge, an initiative that promotes an active healthy lifestyle for office employees, and which currently involves Aspetar, Qatar Petroleum, Meeza, Ras Laffan Power Company, the Supreme Council of Health, Al Jabor Cement Industries Company and Qatar First Bank. The organisations were invited to promote walking and a healthy lifestyle amongst their staff two months ago, and were also asked to join an internal walking challenge to keep them motivated. The ceremony will take place right after The 5000 Steps Journey at 4:00pm, when the participating companies, their active employees and those who achieved 10,000 steps or more will be awarded for the steps they collected during the challenge event. Commenting on the event, Mr Abdulla Al Buflasa Senior Health Promotion Officer at Aspetar, said

“It is a great pleasure to celebrate Qatar National Sport Day with the Qatar community and the Step Into Health members, and I would like to invite all of our community to walk for a healthier and more active lifestyle.

I would also like to congratulate Aspetar, Qatar Petroleum, Mezza, Ras Laffan Power Company, the Supreme Council of Health and Qatar First Bank for offering their employees the chance to become fitter and more dynamic. I look forward to involving more companies in this initiative, and to further promote employees wellbeing”. Step Into Health is a dynamic programme initiated by the Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) under the supervision and management of the Healthy Lifestyle Programme of Aspetar. The programme promotes the concept of a holistic health change to engage the people of Qatar in a self-managed lifelong programme based on a moderate amount of daily physical activity, encouraging each person to walk 10,000 steps or more a day in a non-competitive, recreational and social approach. It is a multi-interventional programme using tools to set targets for physical activity and nutrition, and can help individuals monitor their performance by joining an online programme to make lifestyle changes and become fitter and healthier.