The hot new health program is called Walk With A Doc and it's taking off for good reason.
It helps people lose weight. It prevents or reverses the effects of dozens of diseases, including arthritis, depression, diabetes, heart attack and stroke. It provides fast answers to health questions, turns doctors and patients into friends, and it's free.
Easy, too.
All it takes is a physician who's willing to lace up a pair of sneakers, head to a mall or a park and go for a walk with two or 250 people at a time.
And it was founded by a doc from Ohio.
Dr. David Sabgir grew up in Worthington, outside Columbus; graduated from Miami University in Oxford and the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo; and completed his internship, residency and fellowship at the Ohio State University Medical Center before going into private practice in Columbus in 2003.
He launched Walk With A Doc with a 2.2-mile hike through Sharon Woods Metro Park, just north of the state capital, on April 9, 2005.
The reason was simple.
Telling people to get out and exercise wasn't working.
"And I was pretty good at telling them to do it," Sabgir says before trying out his pitch again, explaining how walking can lower cholesterol, reverse diabetes and wipe out sleep apnea; how it makes people feel good, boosts their self-esteem, transforms their lives.
Then one Saturday morning while lifting weights with a buddy he started thinking: "All I'm doing here is helping myself. Maybe I could help five or 10 more people if we went to the park and walked."
He talked to his nurse, Mollie Bangert, who designed a flier and posted it in their office. And the two of them began spreading the word to their patients, who loved the idea.
They called the office to ask if they could bring their husbands, their grandkids, their dogs. But Sabgir was worried. He knew their record when it came to following through. If 50 or 60 people showed up for the first walk, he'd be happy.
When he got there that Saturday morning, 101 people were waiting.
Over the next six weeks, the number of walkers varied. One Saturday there'd be 50 people, the next 140. But a core group returned each week. And new people showed up every time.
http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2011/06/walk_with_a_doc_program_has_oh.html
