HobNobMurfreesboro Announces New Cause Sponsorship Provided by American Heart Association and Saint Thomas Heart at Middle Tennessee Medical Center

Murfreesboro, TN, August 28, 2009 --(PR.com)-- HobNobMurfreesboro has recently partnered up with the Middle Tennessee Medical Center which is set to launch in October of 2010. This partnership is designed to help promote the awareness of the medical community and its advances in Murfreesboro, TN.

The American Heart Association has announced a 3-year cause sponsorship for the association’s Start! initiative in Rutherford County with Saint Thomas Heart at Middle Tennessee Medical Center. The Start! initiative is committed to getting people engaged in physical activity so they can live longer, stronger lives.

“We’re excited to be a part of such an invigorating initiative,” said Gordon Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer at Middle Tennessee Medical Center. “We look forward to championing our employees, patients and visitors as well as individuals throughout Rutherford County to work to make positive strides to better their health.”

Rising healthcare costs have corporate America seeking ways to encourage employees to improve their health. Studies show over sixty-six percent of American adults are considered overweight and obese and nearly 70 percent are not engaging in regular, moderate or even light physical activity. Start! opens the door for positive changes at workplaces with its primary focus on walking because it has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity.

“A person is 1.5 to 2.4 times more likely to have coronary heart disease if he or she is inactive, but walking vigorously for 30 minutes a day can help reduce high blood pressure and cholesterol and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease,” said Chester J Falterman, MD, FACC with Saint Thomas Heart at Middle Tennessee Medical Center. “Adults should get at least two and a half hours a week of moderate-intensity physical activity.”

Studies show that some adults may gain as many as two hours of life expectancy for each hour of regular, vigorous physical activity.

Start! is sponsored nationally by SUBWAY® Restaurants, Healthy Choice® and AstraZeneca and sponsored in Rutherford County by Saint Thomas Heart at Middle Tennessee Medical Center. For more information, call 615-340-4100 or visit startwalkingnow.org.

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