Roundtable discussion on Medicaid expansion
Category: Health
Walk Kansas 2020 encourages healthier lives
The Walk Kansas 2020 program, held March 15 through May 9, is encouraging residents to get out and walk.
The low-cost, team-based program will focus on encouraging walking and making better nutrition choices. Participants are asked to register with the program.
Offered through the Wyandotte County K-State Research and Extension office, the Walk Kansas 2020 health initiative will log minutes of activity by a team for eight weeks.
Teams of six, with a captain, will set a goal to work toward. Participants will log their activity minutes and the amount of fruits and vegetables they eat. They can log online or on paper.
The program encourages participants to meet the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services guidelines of at least 150 minutes a week of moderate or vigorous intensity activity. Less than half of Kansas adults currently meet minimum recommendations for physical activity.
Also, less than 10 percent of Kansans eat enough fruits and vegetables, according to health officials.
For complete details, brochures, and registration information visit the county extension website, https://www.wyandotte.k-state.edu/program_areas/health-nutrition/walk-kansas/index.html. For more information, call 913-299-9300.
- Information from Wyandotte County Extension office
Students discuss vaping at Teen Town Hall meeting at Sumner Academy
by William Crum
Students at Sumner Academy, 1610 N. 8th St., gathered Thursday morning to participate in a Teen Town Hall meeting on vaping.
Dr. Roy Jensen, director of the University of Kansas Cancer Center, told the students during the meeting that vaping companies target teenagers.
Dr. Jensen said vaping companies tell Congress and others that they are not marketing to teenagers. That is a flat-out lie, Dr. Jensen said.
Students asked questions during the program, and doctors provided factual information. Fox 4 news anchors moderated the program. Student vaping is a problem across the community and across the nation, according to experts.
In an interview, Sumner Academy principal Dr. Rick Malone was asked what he thinks of vaping in the schools.
“We are aware of the serious problems of vaping, especially with teenagers because of the taste,” Dr. Malone said.
He said it wasn’t like the old days, when school personnel might catch teenagers smoking in the bathroom.
“I have personally sent out letters to the parents regarding this issue,” Dr. Malone said. “We want to be aware of the problem. It is a grassroots campaign.”
The Teen Town Hall program was sponsored by the University of Kansas Medical Center, KU Cancer Center, Fox 4 news and the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools. Fox 4 news, which moderated the program, showed a video of it on social media. The video can be seen at https://fox4kc.com/news/fox4-teen-vaping-town-hall-discussing-a-problem-prevalent-in-all-of-our-communities/.
