Walk Across Texas!

Type
Program

Overview

Walk Across Texas! is a FREE 8-week program delivered on a web-based platform to help people of all ages achieve and maintain an active lifestyle.

Contact

Michael Lopez
Extension Program Specialist II
Address: 1470 William D. Fitch Parkway
College Station, Texas 77843

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Promoting programs to support walking and active living where people live, learn, work, and play has been identified as a best-practice recommendation for increasing physical activity in communities. The Walk Across Texas! program was developed in 1996 and recognized as a Best Practice Physical Activity program in 2006. To date, over 650,000 participants have started their virtual journey toward better health!

How does it work?
Walk Across Texas! (WAT!) is a FREE eight-week community program delivered through a web-based platform to help people of various ages and abilities achieve and maintain an active lifestyle. WAT! challenges teams to track and log mileage to virtually walk across the state of Texas (832 miles). Through a team-based approach, participants are engaged in friendly competition to promote engagement during the program.

The WAT! program allows for year-round participation, and everyone is encouraged to take part, no matter your fitness level. Select any start date and you will join a community connected through a positive journey towards a common, healthier goal. To further support teams, AgriLife Extension often holds local community challenges with sponsored events and activities.

Economic Impact
With over 25 years of successful implementation across Texas, the Walk Across Texas! program has led to an economic benefit of over $2.25 billion dollars! The economic benefit of the Walk Across Texas! Adult program is a measure that uses WAT! program evaluation results, disease risk rates, health care costs, and productivity parameters. Economic benefits are calculated for program participants who moved from self-reported inactive (pre-WAT!) to active (post-WAT!). The final number of participants benefitting is based on a follow-up survey that determined the percentage of those who maintained activity levels 3 – 9 months post program.

By engaging in regular physical activity, this reduces a person’s risk of disease each year of their remaining life. The dollar value of the economic benefit of WAT! is calculated in terms of the projected lifetime health care cost savings and worker productivity gains.

Looking for solutions in your county? Contact your local extension experts

More choices in Community Health

  • Master Wellness Volunteers receive 40 hours of training related to health, nutrition, food safety, and other topics and serve a 40-hour internship in their county.

    Temperature of chicken in pan being checked
  • Program

    The Watch UR BAC program, through a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation, teaches Texans about the dangers of alcohol and other drug misuses.

    hands holding a bottle behind a steering wheel
  • Program

    EFNEP helps young families and youth with limited resources, those at risk to suffer from hunger, food insecurity, and the lack of available support systems.

  • Service

    AgriLife Extension provides training to school IPM coordinators for the 1,026 independent school districts across Texas.

  • Tools and Apps

    The calculator allows the Extension educator to review the school campuses, create reports and determine what areas need to be improved, cleaned or repaired.