Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long recently kicked off the “Lieutenant Governor’s Challenge,” which aims to build a stronger and healthier Delaware.
Hall-Long says she’s actually building on the work Gov. John Carney did to address Delawareans’ physical activity and fitness levels when he was Lt. Gov.
“So I’m calling it “Lt. Governor’s Challenge 2.0.” And what we’re able to do is, we’re bringing together both private, non-profit and the public sectors covering from cradle-to-grave and working in the community, from community sites, workplace, schools and congregations of faith,” Hall-Long said.
Hall-Long says she plans to work with organizations to highlight their work. She also intends to find steps state government can take through policy and other changes to promote healthier lifestyles.
Hall-Long is a nurse and says she’s found that poor diet and physical inactivity are two of the bigger important health issues affecting Delawareans.
Hall-Long went on to say, '"Delaware faces what our nation has faced - as we have become more of a media-based population, we spend a lot more time on social media and as our, as I like to tell my students, as our television sets have gotten thinner, our persons have gotten much larger.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Delaware’s 2017 adult obesity prevalence rate was 31.8%; that was slightly higher than the 2016 rate, which was 30.7%.
Hall-Long says as a result Delaware’s obesity rate, as well as diabetes rates have increased.
She says currently, 37% of adults are overweight in the First State.
You can learn more about the "Challenge" here.
