UGA Extension Banner Program Two-thirds of the state’s adults and near 40 percent of Georgia’s children are overweight or obese; wellness and obesity in Georgia is an issue relevant to the entire state population Create program for simultaneous, statewide delivery Engage communities Change sedentary lifestyles Reduce rates of preventable disease 45,000 participants and more than 4 million miles of physical activity logged since 2008

What is Walk Georgia? Free, Web-based program with open, year-round registration and participation beginning this fall Log and track physical activity data online; wide range of activity to choose from (and list is growing!) Activity earns points, and points allow you to virtually walk the state Reporting data available Promotion materials and incentive items available Walk Georgia publishes a blog and weekly newsletter with recipes, state park information, website and app reviews, and articles on health and wellness topics by Extension personnel. Social media presence

Partnership with The Coca-Cola Foundation Established in 2008, Walk Georgia received a boost from The Coca-Cola Foundation in 2013, when a partnership was formed with Walk Georgia through a three-year, $1 million grant to support the program. Goals are to (1) reach 100,000 Georgians over the next three years and (2) to decrease obesity by 5 percent in all of the state’s 159 counties. “Supporting Walk Georgia is another example of Coca- Cola’s commitment to help people lead active, healthy lifestyles,” said Lori George Billingsley, vice president of community relations, Coca-Cola North America. “This commitment starts with our home state of Georgia.”

New website features Updated website look and feel, as well as a new logo Website scales to mobile devices Move to points rather than miles “walked” to account for non distance-based activities, like weight lifting Join and interact through social media Move to year-round availability, but state-level Walk Georgia administration will maintain two, 12-week community sessions annually Makes a great worksite wellness program! Flexibility for schools, businesses, organizations to create their own sessions Flexible group sizes with infinite layers of subgroups

Timeline The program began its pilot phase in the summer and fall of The new website will debut in February More aspects of the new website, like the map, will be rolled out later in 2015.

Contact us! Maria Bowie, Walk Georgia program director, can be reached at or The help desk is always available by ing