Who we worked with
The Eastern and Coastal Kent Primary Care Trust are a trust of the NHS looking after the health needs of people in the local area. Part of their mission is to encourage a healthier lifestyle and tackle obesity by helping people to lead more active lives.
The challenge
In their bid to get local people more physically active Eastern and Coastal Kent Primary Care Trust established a series of HealthWalks. These walks encourage people to take full advantage of the natural beauty spots right on their doorsteps, while getting fitter and enjoying all the physical and mental benefits of being active.
"One of our aims is to encourage our population to lead a healthier lifestyle, and one of the ways we do this is to promote the HealthWalks scheme. Firm evidence about how many calories are used on a HealthWalk helps us to better promote this type of exercise to the public."
Spokesperson for EKC PCT
They called on support from the University to establish the best routes to take and to calculate the impact they could have on health by measuring the calories burned.
How we are helping
A team of researchers from the University's Department of Sports Science, led by Dr Kate Woolf-May, undertook the research for this project. They identified popular town and country walking routes around Canterbury, Herne Bay, Whitstable, Dover and Sturry, and calculated how many steps each route took and how many calories it would burn.
Benefits
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A team of University experts from the Depart of Sport Science developed and led the research project
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Firm evidence of the calorie burning effects of walking has enabled the client to market the HealthWalks scheme more effectively
Who was involved
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Dr Kate Woolf-May and team, Department of Sport Science, Tourism and Leisure at Canterbury Christ Church University
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Eastern and Kent Coastal Primary Care Trust
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